Master Quest: Kanto Saga!
by Zeomancy
Summary: As Ash's tenth birthday arrives, he, alongside childhood friends Cheren and Bianca, starts his journey through the Kanto Region. Along the way, Ash learns about the struggle between the harsh truth and a world full of ideals, tests the strength of his bonds with his loved ones, and possibly finds love in a ditzy blonde. Eventual Imaginationshipping.
1. May 22nd, A Day of Change!

**Ahoy there! It's me, Zeo, here with the not so highly anticipated reboot of the _Master Quest_** **series! It's basically the same the first four chapters(although I did rewrite some parts of them and sprinkle in some new details you might want to make note of) and in general how this story is going to be. For those of you who are new...**

 **Welcome! If you couldn't tell by my summary, this will be an eventual Imaginationshipping Fic(AshXBianca). Aside from romantic pairings though, this story will feature a lot of villains or storylines not present in the actual Pokemon Anime, so while some of it may seem like filler, please understand that everything here is for a purpose, either for character development or evolutions or to advance some other aspect of the story. But I hope you're ready for a long roller coaster of a story, because this is going to be the one!**

 _ **But Zeo, you said Friday, it's practically Monday.**_

 **Well mysterious voice, if you live in the Chicago area like I do, you may have heard about the Snow Storm Friday. It kept me at my Grandmother's house for nearly three days as their car broke down, I just got home a few minutes ago and those skeletons over there don _'t have Wi-Fi._**

 **With aaaaaaall that out of the way, ladies and gentlemen, I present to you...**

* * *

 _ **Master Quest: Kanto Saga!**_

 _ **Chapter 1:**_

 _ **"May 22nd, A Day Of Change!"**_

* * *

There are many reasons why one could find a day to be special.

That day could be special because of what it represents, such as a Holiday. That day could be special because of a memory, such as an anniversary. A day could even be special for being a change in the daily slog of a routine, such as a day off from work or an impending vacation.

There are many, many reasons why one could find a specific day to be special from the others. But for Ash Ketchum, a young and wild spirited boy from Pallet Town, Kanto, this day, May 22nd, was truly a special day. Because for him, May 22nd was a day of change.

* * *

 _-May 22nd, 10 Years Ago..._

* * *

 _"One final push! I can see the head!" The Doctor encouraged, staring intently into Delia Ketchum. This baby would be quite early, not expected for another two months, in fact. He was actually concerned for the child, as there was a high probability..._

 _"You can do it Delia," A man's voice encouraged, grasping Delia's hand and breaking the Doctor's dark train of thought, "Just a little bit more and you'll finally be able to meet our daughter." Delia rolled her eyes before squeezing them shut, also squeezing his hand as tight as she could in the process. This hurt way more than it needed to._

 _"You...mean...son!" She managed to huff between pushes and heavy breaths, with each word tightening her already insanely strong grip on his hand. He could have sworn he'd heard a crack._

 _"Nah, she's totally gonna be a girl," He replied, ignoring his probably broken hand, and before Delia could argue any further, she finally mustered the strength for one final push._

 _"Aaaaah!"_

 _"It's out!" The Doctor exclaimed, cradling the child in his arms and Delia, with a heavy sigh, leaned back on the hospital bed, releasing the man's hand, which he could now no longer feel. He had a newfound fear of her strength now. He could see how she had been so strong back when they were younger. Meanwhile, the Doctor was quietly handling the baby, a concerned frown on his face. Delia and the man both looked at him with confusion, before a look of grim understanding passed both of their faces._

 _The baby wasn't moving, or making a sound._

 _He was a stillborn._

 _Delia's eyes began to water without a single word being said, but the man, without letting his face betray an ounce of what he was feeling, merely gestured to hand the baby to him. The Doctor did so, a look of sadness on his slightly wrinkled face. "My condolences for yo-"_

 _"Not yet, Doc," The man interrupted calmly. "It isn't over yet." He looked down at the lifeless child, a look of pride on his face. "You are a Ketchum, and Ketchums never give up, not until the very end!" His voice was the only sound that filled the room. "So open your eyes, son. Open your eyes and fight!" Everything was silent again for a minute or two, before Delia finally stopped crying to look up at the man and her child. The baby still wasn't moving._

 _"Fight, son! Fight and live!" He nearly shouted, and Delia tiredly reached over and tugged his jacket._

 _"Stop," She whispered, "He's gone." The man shook his head._

 _"No! He's still in there, Delia! He's still in there!" He looked back to the child cradled in his arms, who still hadn't moved. Suddenly, as if answering some unheard call from the heavens, the baby's eyes opened, and they shimmered a brilliant rainbow color. The man's jaw dropped open, and before he could think, the baby was crying loudly and strongly. The Doctor and Delia both audibly gasped._

 _"It's a miracle!" The Doctor exclaimed, eyes wide. That baby had been dead, no pulse, no hope, lifeless and cold. And yet this man had seemingly through words alone revived him, as if he was some sort of God. Just who was this?_

 _"I knew you were in there, son," The man smiled down at him, before handing the baby to Delia, who immediately brought the crying child close to her chest and sobbed._

 _"My baby, my baby boy," She repeated in a whisper, nuzzling her face on his tear stained one._

 _"Hey, Delia," The man drew her attention, his voice noticeably softer, "How about we name him before you squish him to death, yeah?" Delia giggled._

 _"Well you're the miracle worker, aren't you? You can pick a name, I'm just thankful to have him," The man smiled and nodded, scratching his chin thoughtfully._

 _"Well, if we go by the names we've already discussed, then even if it was for a girl at first, I like the sound of Ash."_

 _"Perfect!" Delia beamed, "He was born without a pulse, like a dead phoenix, but from the ashes of a dead phoenix comes the next one, reborn, just like him!" The man sweat dropped. He hadn't put that much thought into it, but Delia had always been poetic and romantic and stuff._

 _"Uh, sure, that! Totally!" He agreed, and Delia, knowing he had no clue what she was going on about, giggled again before looking down at the little bundle in her arms. He has red-brown eyes, like a warm flame, just like her. Ash wasn't crying now, he was just staring up in innocent curiosity at his mother._

 _"Welcome to the world, Ash," She hugged him closer, and quietly whispered, "Welcome home."_

* * *

 _-May 22nd, 5 Years Ago..._

* * *

 _"This tie is itching me!" A young Ash, now five years old, complained, tugging at the forest green bow tie tied around his neck. He was dressed to go to his favorite restaurant, BulbaGarden, for Pizza and Cake. He had gotten to pick out the place for the first time, and even was dressed for the occasion, although he didn't quite enjoy wearing a stuffy, green suit and tie._

 _"Now now Ash, you were the one who said you wanted to look handsome on your Birthday, and I think you look pretty handsome myself!" Ash looked down at himself with the most uncertainty a five year old boy could muster. He wasn't so sure how handsome he looked in what felt like a rug._

 _"Really?" Delia nodded in approval._

 _"Mhm! You look very nice, right you two?" She turned to the other two children present in the house, a young boy named Cheren and a girl named Bianca. They both appeared to be the same age as Ash, and were also dressed in fancy clothes._

 _"You look like a grown up," Cheren replied flatly, adjusting his rather large glasses. He had black hair, light blue eyes, and pale skin, and was dressed in a suit like Ash, but his was a charcoal gray rather than Ash's blue. Ash's head drooped. He didn't wanna look grown up, even if he did like it when people said he looked like his daddy._

 _"I think you look pretty cool!" Bianca said cheerfully, causing Ash to perk back up. Bianca had bright blonde hair and apple green eyes. She was dressed in a pure white dress, and had long white socks extending to her knees, completed by green dancing shoes. Ash sighed in relief. Bianca always had something nice to say, even when Cheren didn't, and true to his stoic character, he usually didn't_ _. She reminded him of his mom in that way, always kind and supporting him._

 _"Let's get going, we don't want to be late now do we?" Delia questioned the group with a smile, adjusting Ash's tie, which had become crooked from Ash's fidgeting, before turning towards the door._

 _"No!" All three kids replied, following her out single file, Ash's excited face leading the charge._

* * *

 _May 22nd, 2 years Ago..._

* * *

 _"Happy Birthday, kiddo!" Ash's father said happily, ruffling the boy's already untidy hair and chuckling like the old man he was becoming. Ash laughed along too, not at all minding his dad messing with his hair. He did it almost all the time after all, especially when he was proud of Ash. And making his parents proud always made Ash happy._

 _"Thanks dad," He answered as his father pulled his hand off his head. He really did resemble Ash, from his hair to his attitude to his choice of clothes. The two were nearly identical._

 _"You know," Ash's father smirked, "It's almost time for you to go on your Pokemon Journey like me and your Mom did. Another two years and you'll be travelling the world!" Ash grinned excitedly at the news, although he already knew it. he'd been counting down the years since he was five, since that day in the woods when he'd met those Pokemon, since he'd decided to be like his Mom and Dad and become a Pokemon Trainer when he grew up._

 _"Yeah! And once I'm a Trainer dad, I wanna have a battle with you!" Delia had to cover her mouth to hide the giggle as she watched the man's face light up with genuine shock, before transitioning to pure happiness._

 _"You bet son! We'll have the awesomest battle ever!" He gave the boy a thumbs up, while Delia sweat dropped._

 _"I don't think 'awesomest' is a word," She deadpanned, and the man scratched the back of his head._

 _"You sure? it sounded really nice in my head," He muttered, and Delia just sighed. He could be a genius in battle, she knew that, but when it came to day to day things he was pretty...well, slow. But that was okay, as long as he caught on eventually. And he did. He even had his moments of, dare she say, genius._

 _"Word or not, Dad's right, we're gonna have the awesomest battle ever!" Ash agreed, and Delia pinched the bridge of her nose as the two laughed together again._

 _What was he doing to their son?_

* * *

 _-May 22nd, Present Day..._

* * *

"Happy Birthday Ash!" Everyone cheered, smiling brightly. Everybody was currently seated at the wooden table in the Ketchum Household's Dining Room. Ash Ketchum himself sat in a chair with a handmade birthday sash draped over him. He was dressed in his usual attire of a blue and white short sleeved jacket, blue jeans, and black and white sneakers. His usual red and white hat was placed on the side of the chair, and he was staring down at a large chocolate cake, with ten lit candles on it.

"Hurry up and make a wish!" Bianca urged, "I heard that Birthday Wishes always come true, y'know!" Bianca had also changed in appearance over the years. She now sported a white shirt under a tangerine orange tank top, and a white skirt that extended down to her ankles. On her head rested a green beret with a white stripe running alone the rim.

"That's just superstition. Why do you always believe that kind of nonsense, Bianca?" Cheren questioned. He now wore a white shirt under an open blue jacket that had a wide collar in the back, and dark jeans. He still wore his glasses, and still had that same stoic attitude he'd had when they were young.

"It's only stupersishon if you don't believe it!" She shot back, sticking out her tongue at the raven haired boy. Everyone sweat dropped at her horrible mispronunciation of the word. She was never good with words.

"It's _superstition_ , and no, it's still just some dumb myth," He sighed, adjusting his glasses. "Jeez Bianca, you're way too gullible." Bianca just stuck her tongue out again,seemingly not having anything to argue with, and everyone laughed at the duo's interactions. They were nearly polar opposites, after all. The grounded, methodical, logical Cheren, and the air headed, spontaneous, careless Bianca.

"Real or not, it's worth a shot, right?" Ash questioned, and Cheren sighed again.

"I guess," He replied, crossing his arms again.

"I for one can't wait to taste the cake," Professor Oak, who was also in attendance for Ash's birthday, interjected, and everyone laughed.

"Right, right, I'm on it," He muttered, closing his eyes as if thinking about his wish, but really it was a no brainer. For almost his whole life there had been only one thing he ever wanted, one thing he ever wished for.

 _I wish me and my friends could all get Pokemon and go on an adventure!_

Ash blew out the candles, and everyone clapped. As Delia started to cut the cake, everyone started chatting again.

"So what'd you wish for?" Cheren questioned, and right as Ash opened his mouth to answer, Bianca urgently pressed a finger to his lips.

"Don't you know how Birthday wishes work!?" She cried incredulously, "If you say it out loud it won't come true!" Cheren pinched the bridge of his nose.

"That's even more stupid. Why would-you know what? Never mind," He decided to drop the subject, ultimately accepting that Bianca would probably never see his side of things. Besides, he supposed the idea of a birthday wish was kind of interesting. He still thought it was superstition, which it was, but the thought itself was nice.

"Here you go Ash!" Delia said as she placed a plate in front of him, "You get first slice." Delia passed out cake to everyone else as well, including herself, and the group ate.

* * *

"Time for presents!" Bianca announced cheerfully, and Ash cheered right alongside her. After all, the best thing about your birthday was usually what gifts you got.

"We could've already gotten to the presents if _some people_ didn't eat three pieces of cake each," Cheren said sharply, adjusting his glasses. Ash and Bianca both sweat dropped. Guilty as charged.

"Whatever! I'm just excited to see what I got, so let's get to it!" Ash reached for the first present he saw, which was Bianca's. It was a small package wrapped in green wrapping paper that was covered in Bulbasaur head stickers. Ash didn't even have to read the tag to know it was Bianca's, as Bulbasaur was her favorite Pokemon. Ash opened the gift and it was revealed to be a pair of dark green fingereless gloves.

"You said your old gloves didn't fit you anymore, so I got you some more!" She explained with a grin, and Ash immediately put them on, giving her a thumbs up.

"They feel awesome! Thanks Bianca!" He thanked, and the girl just offered her fist. Ash, understanding what she wanted, gave her a fist bump, something the two did really often. Without skipping a beat Ash reached for the next gift, which was also in a smaller package, and was from Cheren this time. Ash opened it, and it was...a compass of all things.

"A...compass?" Ash muttered, blinking. He didn't want to sound disappointed, but a compass? Who gives someone a compass on their birthday?

"You always got lost whenever we played in the forest, and since we're ten now, I figured you could use it since we're all gonna start our journeys sooner or later. Especially with your inability to tell what direction you're going." Ash sweat dropped. he wasn't sure if Cheren was joking or not, but that was both thoughtful and insulting at the same time.

"The sun rises in the east and sets in the west!" Ash huffed, as if that proved he knew his directions. Cheren smirked.

"What about North and South?" He fired back, and Ash opened his mouth to speak, but couldn't answer him. He didn't have any clue how to tell those directions.

"Thanks Cheren," He grumbled, finally giving in. he hated when Cheren was right, which was almost all the time, unfortunately for him. Ignoring the chuckling from the usually stoic boy, Ash picked up the last gift, which was a rather large box in comparison to the other two. The tag read that it was from Professor Oak and Delia, although he didn't really need a tag to tell him that much. Delia smiled knowingly as Ash opened the box, and within a split second Ash was jumping up and down. Cheren and Bianca, both curious, looked into the box as well, and they realized exactly what got Ash so excited.

Inside the box were three shiny red Pokeballs, and even though Ash wasn't the smartest, he knew exactly what that meant.

It meant that he could become a Pokemon Trainer.

It meant that he could travel the region.

it meant that he could be just like his dad.

"Thankyouthankyouthankyou!" Ash cheered, running over to his mother and nearly crushing her in a hug. He could hardly contain his happiness, and for good reason. he'd been waiting for this moment his whole life, after all.

"It is your tenth birthday," She explained, fully embracing him, "A Pokemon was the least I could do for such a big day." Professor Oak smiled as well, somewhat thankful he wasn't on the receiving end of that hug. He was far too old to be getting crushed in hugs.

"She asked me about it a few months ago," He explained, "Of course I thought you were ready, so we hooked you up, as the kids say." He finished with a wink and finger gun, and everyone sweat dropped. Professor Oak was beyond out of touch with the newest sayings, though he always tried to keep up. "But, as you probably noticed, there are three Pokemon in that box. I think you know who the other two are for." Cheren and Bianca both grinned, which was especially out of character for the former, who rarely even cracked more than a sly smirk.

"Thanks Professor!" They said in sync, and the Professor simply waved them off.

"No problem kids!" Ash, who had finally calmed down, stared into the box with a thoughtful expression.

"So what Pokemon are inside?" He questioned, and Professor Oak simply gestured to Cheren.

"Leave it to Ash to not figure it out," Cheren joked, causing Ash to frown.

"Just spit it out!" He demanded, a blush of embarrassment of his face. Cheren smirked again, which only irked Ash further, before answering.

"The three standardized starter Pokemon for the Kanto Region are Bulbasaur, a Grass Type-" Bianca's squealing cut him off.

"The cutest Pokemon ever!" She beamed, starry eyed. Everyone sweat dropped.

"Yeah...whatever," Cheren muttered, rolling his eyes, "Anyway, the next is Squirtle, a Water Type, and last is Charmander, a Fire Type," He finished, and Professor Oak clapped his hands in approval.

"That's exactly right. Great work, Cheren," He complimented, before continuing, "Yes, those are the three Pokemon in that box, and each of you will receive one." Ash stared back down at the box. Bianca wanted Bulbasaur, so he wasn't taking that...so it was either Charmander or Squirtle. And if he had to choose between them...He smiled to himself. He'd always known what Pokemon he'd want from among the three Kanto Region starters.

"I choose...Charmander!" He decided confidently, picking up the Pokeball and gulping, his confidence fading just as quickly as it came. He was about to meet his first Pokemon, his partner for the rest of his journey. It was a very important moment. Pressing the release button, Ash watched tensely as a stream of glowing white light flowed out of the Pokeball and onto the floor, slowly forming the shape of a Pokemon. Finally the light died down, and everyone was greeted by the sight of an orange lizard-like Pokemon with a cream colored belly. Charmander looked at it's surroundings. It was surrounded by humans, it noted. Did they want to play with it?

"Char!" Charmander greeted, smiling at everyone, and Ash sighed in relief. he wasn't sure what to expect from his starter, but it looked like it would be a very nice Pokemon after all. Ash smiled back at the fire lizard.

"My name's Ash Ketchum, and I wanna be a Pokemon Master. Wanna come along for the ride?" Charmander was a pretty simple Pokemon. It liked to battle, it liked to play with humans, and it liked to eat. If it could do all those things and then some, then it was definitely in!

"Mander!" Charmander answered, and Ash grinned. He now had his first Pokemon, meaning he was one step close achieving his dream. As Ash and Charmander got to know each other, Bianca wasted no time in picking her own starter, snatching Bulbasaur from the box before anyone could say anything.

"Bulbasaur, come on out!" Bianca called as she pressed release and in a similar manner to Ash's, a white light slowly took form and faded away, this time revealing a small, quadruped dinosaur looking Pokemon with light green skin peppered with dark green spots, and a large, garlic shaped seed on it's back. Bulbasaur rubbed it's eyes as if it was tired, lazily looking around. Was it morning already?

"Hi Bulbasaur!" Bianca greeted suddenly, nearly scaring the poor grass type to death, "My name's Bianca, and I wanna travel the world, and I want you to be my starter because I think you're the cutest Pokemon ever, and I've always liked Grass Types because they help make air and I like air because I breathe air, well, we all breathe air, but anyways," She took a moment to breathe the air she kept rambling on about, "You wanna be partners?" Everyone stared dumbly at Bianca. None of them were quite sure what she'd just said for the most part.

Bulbasaur on the other hand didn't really care about any of that, it just wanted to sleep. Shrugging, the Grass Type leaped onto the top of her head, causing her to nearly lose her balance, before laying out on top of her hat and going back to sleep. Everyone face-faulted. Was it that tired? Bianca just giggled.

"D'aaaw, that's even cuter! Don't we look cute Ash?" She turned to Ash, striking a pose and making a peace sign. Ash blinked a few times, before giving her a thumbs up.

"Sure you do!" He answered, not knowing or particularly caring what she was going on about as he was too busy playing with Charmander. Cheren just shook his head at his friends. They could really be a handful sometimes.

"Well, I suppose I wanted Squirtle anyway," He muttered, picking up the last Pokeball and pressing the release button. The stream of light shot out and out come a light blue, bipedal turtle like Pokemon, with a curled tail and a brown, hexagon shaped shell on it's back. Squirtle crossed it's arms as it observed the humans around it. Everyone sweat dropped. It looked like a Pokemon version of Cheren.

"Hello," Cheren greeted calmly, kneeling down so he was eye level with the Pokemon, "My name is Cheren, Cheren Hawthorne, and my goal is to become the world's strongest Trainer. Will you help me to achieve that?" Squirtle stared Cheren in the eyes. This human seemed to be smart, and they shared similar goals. Cheren wanted to be the strongest Trainer, and Squirtle wanted to be the strongest Pokemon. It saw no problem with him.

"Squirt," Squirtle nodded, and Cheren smiled a genuine smile, something he rarely did.

"Thank you, really do appreciate it," He thanked gratefully, and Squirtle smiled back. Those two were like brothers already.

"I'm glad you all get along with your new Pokemon," Professor Oak interrupted, "But that's not all I have to give you three." Professor Oak gestured for Ash to look inside the box again, and Ash proceeded to pull out three red, book sized devices. "Those are your Pokedexes. I'm sure Cheren can explain what they do." Cheren stood back up, adjusting his glasses as he usually did when he was about to speak, even when they didn't need fixing.

"Pokedexes are devices designed to record information on the specific Pokemon you catch, such as your Specific Pokemon's height, weight, and the like, while also providing general information about the Pokemon's species. They also double as your Trainer I.D, allowing you to enter official Pokemon League Sanctioned events and prove your identity if questioned." he recited word for word the definition from the Textbooks they'd gotten back in school. Ash and Bianca stared in disbelief.

"You _remember_ that?" Ash asked incredulously.

"Of course I do," He scoffed, as if it were something offensive, "Basic things like that are things every Trainer should know." Ash and Bianca's heads both drooped in guilt. Neither of them could've answered that the way Cheren had, and all three of them knew it.

"Cheren makes a good point," Professor Oak agreed, "That is something I taught you three in school and it is a very important thing to know, especially now that you're actually leaving on your journeys." Ash looked back up, seemingly recovered from a few seconds ago.

"Don't worry Professor, we can handle anything a journey throws at us! Right Bianca?" He turned to the blonde, who also perked up.

"Right!" She agreed, and the two grinned, fist bumping again. Cheren sweat dropped.

"I don't think that was the point he was making," He deadpanned, but the duo were too busy being...well...Ash and Bianca, to hear him.

"Anyway, there's still a few more things in there Ash." Ash curiously took a third look into the box, removing some of the wrapping paper and finding fifteen Pokeballs inside.

"Those are your Pokeballs. Since you can only carry a maximum of six Pokemon with you at once, i put in five for each of you, but you can buy more at any local Pokemon Center's Pokemart," He explained, and the trio proceeded to divide them up. After that was finished, Ash started heading for the door.

"I'm gonna go catch some Pokemon!" He declared, but was stopped dead in his tracks when his Mother pulled him back by the collar.

"Not so fast Ash, it's still your Birthday Party, remember? Besides, I need time to pack your bag before you go and travel around Kanto," She reminded him, and Ash scratched the back of his head.

"Heh heh...right. Sorry Mom," He apologized sheepishly as she released him. Delia just sighed.

"I swear, you're just as impatient as your father," She muttered, and Ash just chuckled. He always found it funny when his mom compared him to his Dad.

"Well, since we'll be here a little while, what do you guys wanna do?" Ash questioned, and everyone stopped to think for a moment. Finally, Bianca broke the silence.

"Well, since we all just became Pokemon Trainers," She began, "How about a battle?" Ash and Cheren both smiled at that. If there was one thing the two had in common, it was their passion for battles.

"Sounds fun!" Ash agreed, "I'm in!"

"Agreed," Cheren added.

"I can referee," Professor Oak offered. Delia sweat dropped. Even the Professor was excited to be a part of this.

"You can battle in the backyard," She pointed to the door, "Just please don't ruin the flowers!" Ash nodded, flashing his Mother a thumbs up and a grin.

"We won't! Thanks a bunch Mom!" He gave her another quick hug before the kids, followed by Professor Oak, all exited the house. Delia sighed again, putting her hands on her hips.

"Those kids are a rowdy bunch," She said to herself, before making her way upstairs to Ash's room.

* * *

"Are you both ready?" Professor Oak questioned, standing in the middle of the backyard with both his arms raised. To his left, Ash stood with a confident smirk on his face, Charmander nearly mirroring him, wagging it's tail in excitement. The duo exuded excitement and passion. To his right, the always composed Cheren stood, arms crossed and a smirk of his own, Squirtle doing the exact same. Compared to Ash, the two were calm, but just as confident. Neither of them looked like they planned to lose this battle.

Bianca stood off to the side, watching the battle while Bulbasaur was still laying on her head, half watching the battle and half trying to go back to sleep. She didn't know who to root for, but that wasn't stopping her. She wanted to cheer, and she was going to!

"Go Ash, you can do it!" She shouted, before jogging over to the other side. "Go Cheren go!"

Professor Oak just smiled. He didn't know why, but he just had a gut feeling that these three would do great things in the world. he wasn't sure how, he wasn't sure what, but he just knew they would all grow into truly wonderful people.

"Well then, let the battle..."

The stage was set, the combatants were ready, and the crowd, albeit only one person, was loud.

"...Begin!"

* * *

 **And that was chapter 1! Hope you enjoyed this Chapter, because I had fun writing it! Especially the conversations between Cheren and Bianca, those are just fun. Next two chapters will also be up today, but after this they'll start being weekly.**

 **'Till then,**

 **Peace!**


	2. The Adventure Begins!

**Yo! It's Zeomancy AKA Zeo here, bringing you the second chapter of the triple update! I guess now it's kind of like a New Years Eve Special, huh? Yeah, let's roll with that. I hope you all enjoyed chapter one and I hope you even further enjoy Chapter 2!**

 **And with aaaaaaaaall that out of the way...**

* * *

 _ **Master Quest: Kanto Saga!**_

 ** _Chapter 2:_**

 ** _"The Adventure Begins!"_**

 ** _Opening: "Dream Shooter", By "Sea A"_**

* * *

"Let the battle begin!"

Neither opponent wasted time on that front.

"Charmander, use Scratch!" Ash ordered as soon as Professor Oak dropped his arms. Charmander's finers were coated in glowing white light as it ran forward.

"Squirtle, dodge and use Leer!" Cheren shouted, and Squirtle ducked underneath Charmander's first swing, it's eyes momentarily glowing before it jumped back to avoid the second. Ash briefly wondered why Cheren didn't use a damaging move, but quickly pushed that thought to the side. He didn't have time to waste on that. He had a battle to win!

"Charmander, try another Scratch!" Ash repeated, and Charmander repeated the steps, fingers glowing as it ran at Squirtle a second time.

"Squirtle, use Bubble," Cheren countered calmly, and Squirtle briefly drew in it's breath, before blowing out a steady stream of bubbles from it's mouth. Ash's eyes widened. He'd totally forgotten about Squirtle's Water Move for a second!

"Quick Charmander, jump up!" He yelled, and Charmander jumped high into the air, cleanly avoiding the bubbles, "Now use Scratch as you fall back down!" Charmander's glowing fingers seem to slightly grow as Charmander pointed downward, it's speed increasing as it plummeted towards Squirtle.

"Using the momentum of the fall to give your attack more impact, that's pretty smart," Cheren complimented, "But it isn't smart enough! Squirtle, roll out the way and use Bubble!" Squirtle barrel rolled to the side, causing Charmander's Scratch to collide with nothing but the ground. before Charmander could regain it's bearings, Squirtle fired a barrage of Bubbles, knocking the fire lizard back a few feet. Charmander winced a bit in pain, but shook it off fairly quickly. It would take more than one Bubble attack to keep Charmander down!

"Charmander, you okay buddy?" Ash called out. Charmander nodded fiercely, slapping it's tail to the ground just to show off how okay it was. Ash grinned. This fight wasn't over yet. Type advantage or not, they were going to win this. Together. "Alright Charmander, use Scratch, one more time!" Charmander rushed at Squirtle again, slashing away with it's glowing hands. Squirtle did everything it could to avoid them, ducking and rolling, leaping over them, but eventually the flurry of swings became too much, and Squirtle caught a scratch to the jaw, sending the water type flying back a bit, but it managed to land on it's feet.

"Squirtle, use another Leer," Cheren ordered, calm as ever despite the attack landing. Squirtle's eyes began to glow again, and Charmander could feel it's defenses dropping. Fortunately, Bubble was a Special Attack, so it wouldn't do any extra damage. It could still win!

"Charmander, try an Ember!" Charmander breathed in, before blowing out a flurry of fiery pellets at Squirtle.

"Bubble!" Cheren said quickly, and Squirtle fired another wave of Bubbles from it's mouth. The two attacks met in the middle, the collision causing an explosion of thick white steam to cover the field. Ash smirked.

"Now's our chance! Charmander, use Scratch and give it all you've got!" Charmander strained it's eyes to try and see through the thick steam, finally locating the dark shadow of Squirtle. Smirking much like it's Trainer was, Charmander ran forward, fingers glowing.

"Squirtle, listen for Charmander's foot steps," Cheren ordered, and Squirtle nodded, closing it's eyes to focus. Charmander was approaching closer, closer, closer...

Just as Charmander swung, Squirtle opened it's eyes and back flipped out of the way. The steam finally cleared up, and both Pokemon stood relatively still healthy. Ash and Cheren both had very serious expressions on their faces. This was each of their first battles after all, so naturally, both really wanted to win.

Bianca looked between the two with her usual grin. "They both look so cool!" She gushed, looking up at her own Pokemon. "Right Bulbasaur?" Bulbasaur rubbed it's eyes, having barely been paying attention. It saw Charmander and Squirtle, and instantly yawned again. It didn't care much about battling right now, it just wanted to sleep.

"Saur," It replied lazily, and Bianca sweat dropped when the Pokemon went right back to sleeping.

"Charmander, Scratch again!" Ash shouted, and Charmander rushed at Squirtle once more.

"Dodge and use Leer!" Cheren countered the same way he'd done before. Squirtle side stepped the first Scratch, it's eyes starting to glow before it rolled out the way of the second swing. Charmander attempted to swing a third time, but Squirtle rolled under it, stopping once it was a good distance away. "Now use Bubble!"

"Charmander, dodge and try to use Scratch again!" Ash called. He couldn't use Ember too much, because Squirtle was far too fast to get hit. And even if it did hit, it would barely do any damage since Squirtle was a Water Type. Scratch was his only real attack right now, so he just had to keep up the pressure until it worked.

Squirtle fired off another barrage of bubbles, but Charmander jumped to the side to avoid it. Not skipping a beat Charmander got in close range and delivered a fierce scratch in the form of an uppercut, knocking Squirtle into the air.

"Hit'em again while it's in the air and can't dodge!" Ash continued, smirking. it looked like he was finally gaining the upper hand! Charmander jumped into the air, hands still glowing, and delivered an axe handle to Squirtle's gut, sending the turtle Pokemon crashing back down to the ground. Charmander landed a few feet away, watching tensely to see if Squirtle would get up.

That question was answered only a few moments later, when Squirtle crawled back to it's feet. The Scratch had hurt, but Squirtle still had plenty of fuel in the tank. It wouldn't be taken down that easily. it was going to become the strongest Pokemon, after all.

Cheren smirked. That's what he expected from a prideful Pokemon like Squirtle. "Alright Squirtle, use Leer!" Squirtle's eyes took on a familiar eerie glow, and Charmander involuntarily shivered as it's defense dropped even further. Again, Ash was stumped. What was Cheren trying to do? Leer wouldn't help a Special Attack like Bubble, so why did he keep doing it?

"Squirtle, use Bubble!" Squirtle blew out more Bubbles, and Ash decided they'd done enough dodging.

"Use Scratch to knock them all away!" Ash fist pumped the sky as he gave the command, as if he was the one attacking. He was getting fired up, alright. Charmander's hands began to glow, and it's body tensed as it waited for the bubbles to get within reaching distance. As soon as they did, Charmander begaslashing furiously at the Bubbles, knocking them to either side as quick as they came at it, until there was nothing else left to hit. Charmander panted lightly. It had been running and swinging at things for most of the battle, and it's fatigue was starting to show.

But it wasn't done yet.

Not even close.

* * *

"That should do it!" Delia said with a grin, zipping Ash's backpack shut. She packed his underwear, socks, jeans, some fresh t shirts, a toothbrush, deodorant, some soap, a face towel, a body towel...

She stopped her train of thought for a moment when a particular object caught her eye. She smiled warmly as she picked the object off of Ash's dresser. It was a photo of herself, Ash, and his father, all standing together. Ash was about seven at the time, and this was one of the most recent pictures of Ash's father that he had.

"I'm sure he'll want this, too," She unzipped his bag, taking the picture out of the frame, folding it, and placing it inside the bag. Zipping it back up, Delia made her way downstairs, heading out the back door to see how their battle was going. Spotting Bianca and the Professor watching a few feet away, she decided to stand near them.

"So, how's everything going?" She questioned as she reached them. Bianca and the Professor both turned to the sudden voice, but relaxed when they saw who it was.

"Oh, hi Ms. Ketchum!" Bianca greeted, "Everything's really intense! Ash and Cheren are super good!" Delia smiled at that. She knew battling was in both their blood. Ash's father and herself were both good battlers back in their day, and Cheren's father was a former member of the Elite Four before resigning to continue his training.

"Indeed, those two are quite something. We definitely made the right call in giving them Pokemon, it seems to come naturally to them," Professor Oak agreed.

"That's my Ash," She replied, and the trio returned their attention to the battle at hand.

* * *

"Charmander, Scratch!"

"Squirtle, dodge it and use Bubble!"

The heated battle between Ash and Cheren hadn't slowed down one bit. It was nonstop attacking and evading for both sides, and despite the exhaustion that was beginning to set in,neither Pokemon showed any sign of backing down.

Charmander ran at Squirtle before it's hands could even begin to glow, but they were glowing by the time Charmander swung with a long right. Squirtle leaned back to avoid the swing, before firing a stream of bubbles at Charmander's face.

"Charmander, lean back and trip it with your tail!" Ash shouted, and Charmander copied Squirtle, leaning back to dodge the Bubbles before using it's long tail to whip at Squirtle's legs, tripping it over and causing it to land on it's back. "Now use Scratch!" Charmander brought it's glowing hand down smack dab in center of Squirtle's expose belly, causing the latter to wheeze for air.

"Squirtle, try and use Bubble again!" Squirtle winced in pain, but managed to shoot a stream of bubbles that hit Chamander right between the eyes, causing it to stumble backwards a bit. Charmander shook it off, although it was definitely feeling the pain now. It couldn't take much more, but neither could Squirtle. The next big move would end it for sure.

Ash and Cheren both looked up at the same time, and as if some conversation happened between the two, both nodded at each other. the others weren't sure what, but the two had agreed on something.

"Charmander, let's give it one last go, alright?" Ash called out to the fire starter. Charmander nodded it's head, slapping it's tail against the ground. it was ready to finish this battle once and for all.

"Squirtle, this'll be our final effort, so give it everything you have," Cheren said calmly, and Squirtle nodded as well, tensing up. That Charmander was it's first obstacle on the road to being the strongest Pokemon. it was not going to lose, not now, not ever.

Meanwhile, Profesor Oak seemed to finally catch on to what they were doing.

"They intend on ending the battle with this final clash," He noted, and the other two spectators both raised their eyebrows, Bianca especially, as she grew even more excited.

"It's like one of those cowboy showdowns!" She said excitedly, bouncing up and down. "This is so awesome! Isn't it awesome, Bulbasaur?" She looked up to her starter, who lazily looked up at the battle again. They both looked tired, just like it was. Maybe they wanted to take a nap too...

"Bulba," Bulbasaur muttered, before going back to sleep. The trio sweat dropped. Just how long did Bulbasaur plan on sleeping?

"Alright Cheren, I hope you're ready, because you're about to get all the power we've got!" Ash called out to his friend. Cheren smirked, adjusting his glasses.

"Same to you Ash, you're about to see just how strong we are!" the two both smiled the most sincere smiles they'd had all battle as they seemed to speak at the same time. Without even waiting on their commands, Charmander and Squirtle ran at each other.

"Charmander, Scratch!"

"Squirtle, Pound!" Ash's eyes widened as he heard Cheren's command. Pound? Why was he using that all of a sudden? He'd only been using Bubble and Leer until now...wait a second...

Charmander's hand was coated in blinding white light, as was Squirtle's fist, and as the two collided, a sudden gust of wind blew throughout the backyard.

"For baby Pokemon, those two sure are strong," Delia commented, and Oak nodded.

"Well, they're in the hands of strong trainers, after all," He replied. Bianca just watched in amazement.

Both Charmander and Squirtle stood sluggishly on their respective sides, staring at each other with eyes that showed no sign of defeat. After what felt like an eternity of the two staring each other down...

Charmander collapsed to the ground.

"The battle has been decided!" Professor Oak's voice broke the sudden silence as he stepped back onto the battlefield, "And the winner is Cheren!" Bianca and Delia both clapped as Cheren smiled proudly, returning Squirtle to it's Pokeball.

"Thank you, everyone," Cheren said politely bowing. Professor Oak patted him on the back.

"Excellent work, Cheren!" The Professor commented, "That was a very exciting battle!"

"Yeah! It was super cool!" Bianca added, "You guys were like, 'this battle ends now', and your Pokemon were like "grrr!", and then you did your moves and it was "booom!", and "wooosh!", and it was amazing!" Everyone sweat dropped. They, as per usual, had no idea what the heck Bianca was talking about.

Meanwhile, Ash walked over to Charmander, a sad smile on his face. He may have lost, but he'd come so close. He was sure they'd win next time.

"Hey buddy," He said softly, picking up Charmander, who was beginning to regain consciousness, "You did a great job." Charmander teared up a little bit. It had lost it's first battle with Ash. It had let him down, and even then, Ash didn't look mad at all. He was even smiling at it.

"Char," Charmander got teary eyed, and Ash didn't have to speak Pokemon to know Charmander was saying it was sorry it lost.

"It's okay," Ash told it calmly, like his mother did to him when he was young, "You never gave up, and that's what's important. My Dad always told me, 'Never give up until the end', and you didn't. I'm proud of you, Charmander." Charmander couldn't help but let the tears flow as it hugged it's trainer, and Ash just patted the fire lizard's back. He felt the same way that Charmander did. He was frustrated, but he just knew they'd win the next time they battled Cheren.

"Great job to you two as well," Professor Oak said suddenly, drawing the duo's attention.

Cheren, Bianca, Professor Oak, and Delia all clapped for Ash and Charmander as well, causing the two to look at them all in surprise.

"Huh?" Ash muttered, not expecting any applause.

"You almost had me a few times during that battle," Cheren admitted, shaking Ash's hand.

"Yeah! I was on the edge of my seat the whole time! You two were awesome!" Bianca complimented, cheery as usual.

"You were great sweetie," Delia finished with a smile, and Ash looked down to Charmander.

"See? Everyone else thinks were did a great job too." Charmander stared at everyone, before looking back up to Ash. They were right. Charmander had nothing to be ashamed of. It had given that battle it's best effort, and it should be proud of that.

"Well, now that the battle's over, you two," Delia pointed to Cheren and Bianca, "Better go tell your parents and get your bags packed too!" Cheren and Bianca blinked. They'd both totally forgotten about that.

"Right, I'll go now. Goodbye everyone," Cheren said politely, running out the back gate and heading out. Bianca looked down in what looked like sadness, until Ash called her.

"Bianca?" Ash called, snapping her out of it. "You okay? You look sad all of a sudden." Bianca frantically waved her hands in front of her face.

"No, nothing's wrong at all! I was just kinda sad i didn't get to battle is all," She lied, laughing a bit too much to sound real, and rushing out of the backyard, leaving Ash puzzled.

"But she said she wanted to watch me and Cheren battle. If she wanted to battle too, why didn't she say that?" He muttered, scratching the back of his head/ meanwhile, Delia and Oak watched her leave with concerned frowns on their faces. Bianca wasn't one to lie or feel too sad in general.

What did she have to hide?

* * *

"Are you sure you're ready?" Delia asked for the eighteenth time as she brushed some non existent dust of of Ash's shoulders, and straightened out the wrinkles on his jacket that she'd already straightened twice. Ash sweat dropped. Even he could tell she was just being her usual worried self.

"I'm gonna be fine Mom, don't worry about it," He tried to comfort her, but she just squeezed him tight, a bit too tight for him to breathe properly.

"How can I not worry?" She sniffed, "My baby's about to leave home forever!" Ash sighed. She could really be dramatic when the moment called for it.

"I'm not leaving forever, just until I'm done travelling through Kanto. I'll be back to visit plenty of times, too." Delia sniffed a few more times, before finally letting him go.

"You're right," She sighed finally, "I'm just being a big old worrywart." Giving Ash one last genuine hug, she smiled into his shoulder. "Good luck Ash. I'm rooting for you," She whispered, and Ash nodded.

"I'll do my best, Mom," He assured. her smile turning into a mischievous grin, Delia continued.

"And make sure to change your underwear every single day." Ash blushed bright red as she released him.

" _Mom_!" Ash groaned, and the woman chuckled at his reaction.

"It's about time you get going. Don't want to keep Cheren and Bianca waiting too long," She handed him his backpack, and placed his signature hat on his head. Ash nodded, and headed for the door.

"I hope you'll be watching the Indigo League, Mom," Ash gave her a thumbs up, "Because I'm gonna be winning it!" With that Ash was gone, leaving Delia alone in the Ketchum household.

"I promise you Ash," She whispered to herself, "I'll be watching." She flopped down on the couch, looking at the mess the children and Professor Oak had left behind.

"I'm gonna miss having Ash around to help clean the house," She sighed, before closing her eyes. "But for now, it can wait."

* * *

"No. Absolutely not," A man's voice denied. That voice belonged to Gregory Belle, the father of Bianca. "There's no way I'm letting you go on a journey." Bianca looked absolutely crushed at his decision. She'd known it was coming, but even still, she wanted to deny the feeling of sadness that she'd felt in the back of her mind when Professor Oak first said she could have a Pokemon. She'd tried to believe that maybe, just maybe, her father would say something different, that he'd have a miraculous change of heart, but deep down inside she'd known.

She'd always known.

She'd known she could never go on a Pokemon Journey.

But even though she knew, she still had to try. If only for them.

"But Dad," She argued, ignoring the tears in her eyes, "I got a Pokemon and Pokedex from Professor Oak and everything! He thinks I'm ready to go on a Journey, why don't you?"

"Professor Oak isn't your father, I am!" Greg snapped, causing her to flinch. "Professor Oak doesn't know a thing about our family, and he doesn't know a thing about you!" Lydia, Greg's wife, placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Greg..." She she began, but he cut her off.

"No! I'm tired of her bringing this up! I told you, you aren't ready to go on a Journey! Pokemon Journeys are too dangerous for you, there's thieves and rapists and murderers out there!" He shouted, and Lydia frowned. She knew how overprotective Greg could be with Bianca, but this was just too much.

"And those same people were out there when we journeyed as kids," She pointed out, "And when our parents did it, and when their parents did it! They've always been here, Greg, it's just a fact of life! You can't protect her from the world forever!"

"I'm not protecting her from the world, I'm protecting her from herself!" Greg turned to his wife, "I've known Bianca her whole life, I'm her _father_ , and I know that she's not ready for the responsibility of being a Pokemon Trainer! She's too reckless, and she doesn't even have a reason to go on a journey! She isn't doing anything but following Ash and Cheren!" Flinching again, Bianca stood there, teary eyed, as her parents argued. Her father was right. She was nothing but a stupid little girl riding her friends' coat tails. Deep down inside, she'd known it all along.

She'd always known.

Like her dad said, she didn't even have a goal, like Ash and Cheren did. She was just tagging along for the ride because she thought Pokemon were cute, and she didn't want to get left behind by her only real friends. She didn't want to collect badges or do anything special like them, she was just becoming a Trainer for no reason. She was so stupid!

She should've never taken a Pokemon from Professor Oak.

 _"She's just not ready for the responsibility of being a Pokemon Trainer!"_

She should've never thought about going a journey.

 _"She's too Reckless,"_

She should've never even asked in the first place.

 _"And she doesn't even have a reason to go out on a journey! She isn't doing anything but following Ash and Cheren!"_

"Mom...it's okay. Dad's right. I'm not ready," Bianca said suddenly, head bowed. Lydia and Greg both turned to the blonde, who was wiping tears out of her eyes. "I was only doing it to follow Ash and Cheren, but a Pokemon Journey's supposed to be taken seriously. I'm sorry for wasting your time. I'll go and give Bulbasaur back to the Professor." Nobody else said a word as Bianca slowly made her way to the door. Bulbasaur, who had slept through it all, didn't protest when it was returned to it's Pokeball.

When she pulled the door open she spotted Ash, heading towards her house and smiling as usual. She'd almost forgotten that she had to break the news to Ash and Cheren too. She kept walking until she reached the sidewalk, where Ash was now waiting for her.

"You ready to go Bianca? I'm sure Cheren's already waiting for us in front of his house, he's always early for stuff like this." When Bianca didn't respond, Ash frowned in concern. "Uh, Bianca? You okay?"

"Ash, I'm really sorry, but, um, I'm not gonna be going with you guys after all." She didn't look up from the ground to see Ash's reaction, but she imagined that he was surprised, to say the least.

"What? Why?" Ash questioned, his frown changing from one of concern to one of confusion. Bianca bit her lip and blinked back the tears. She'd already cried in the house, she wasn't gonna cry again.

"My Dad said no," She explained, and before Ash could march into the house, Bianca continued, "And he's right about everything he said." Those words caused him to stop dead in his tracks.

"Whadd'ya mean he was right?" Ash couldn't understand what would make Bianca think she shouldn't go on a Journey. All you had to do was be ten, she was definitely old enough. So what was the issue?

Bianca sighed. She should've known he wouldn't just let her go without a reason. "I'm always making mistakes, even doing little things like walking downstairs and pronouncing words. If I act like that on a Journey, I'd just hurt myself and get in your way," She felt the tears coming back, but forced them away again. She couldn't mess this up too, not like she did with everything else. "And I don't even have a real reason to be a Trainer, I only wanted to go because you and Cheren are, not because I want to be a Pokemon Master or anything else. If I went with you two, i'd just hold you and Cheren back, so you're better off without-"

"Stop!" Bianca's eyes widened at Ash's sudden interruption. "Stop putting yourself down like that!" Ash's eyes seemed to light on fire as he stared into Bianca's with a passion she usually only saw when he was talking about Pokemon or his next meal. Greg, wondering why he was hearing so much talking outside, came to the door, but stopped once he saw Ash talking to Bianca.

"You can make mistakes, that's okay. And you can not have a clue what you wanna do, that's okay too! A Pokemon Journey's about more than goals and all that serious stuff, it's also about fun! You try and reach your goals _because_ that goal is fun! Me and Cheren love everything about Pokemon, and we think that Pokemon Battles are fun. That's why our goals are to be Pokemon Masters!" Ash stopped for a moment, before extending his fist to Bianca. "Maybe Gym Battles aren't your thing, but as long as you keep doin' what's fun to you, I'm sure you'll find your goal!"

Bianca finally let the tears fall, but this time her tears were ones of joy rather than ones of sadness. She was so focused on her problems that she'd forgotten what she had forgotten what a Pokemon Journey was even about! She wanted to have fun, and maybe discover what she wanted to do along the way. Wiping away her tears, she grinned as wide as she ever had, fist bumping Ash.

"Thanks for reminding me of what a journey's about Ash! I'm gonna try and get my Dad to let me go!" A fired up Bianca thanked, but before she could act on those words, a third voice spoke up.

"That won't be necessary," Greg said suddenly, causing the two kids to turn to the door of Bianca's house. Bianca and Ash's eyes both widened in surprise. They hadn't noticed him there the entire time.

"Dad, how long have you been there?" Bianca questioned.

"I heard the whole thing, and Ash, you were right. A goal is something acquired on a Journey, but a journey isn't started by having a goal. It's started by having a desire to go on one, and even if it's a shallow reason behind it, her desire is very real. I can't deny that." Bianca and Ash both grinned. did that mean what they thought it meant?

"However," He continued, "That still doesn't change the fact that this world is dangerous. And it doesn't change the fact that my daughter could get hurt, or even die out there. Goal or not, I can't trust my Daughter to fend off criminals and other terrible people just because she wants to travel." So she still couldn't go. Her father had already heard everything she was going to say, and even if he hadn't, she still couldn't argue against what he was saying. She was very careless and easygoing, she knew that, and that could cause her to get hurt on a Pokemon Journey. Even after everything that Ash said...

"Then trust me." Both Bianca and her father turned to the aforementioned boy in surprise.

"What?" Greg couldn't help but ask, and Ash pointed his fist at Greg, much like he had with Bianca.

"Trust me!" Ash repeated, If you can't trust Bianca to handle a Journey on her own, then trust me instead. I'll protect her!" Greg looked down at the boy in disbelief. Where did he get the nerve to go around making bold statements like that?

"And what makes you any different? You're a kid too," Greg pointed out, "Why should I put my Daughter's life in your hands?"

"Because she's my friend!" Ash declared.

Greg raised a brow. He felt a tiny bit of nostalgia, but put the memory aside. "And what does that have to do with her safety?" Ash smiled again, before pointing to his heart.

"My Dad told me the most important thing I'd ever have is my family," He explained, "To me, friends are family, and Bianca's one of my best friends! She's family, so that means I'm gonna protect her with all I've got!" Again, Greg and Bianca found themselves surprised.

For Bianca, this wasn't how Ash usually acted. Neither of them were the super emotional type, so Ash rarely, if ever, talked about how much she and Cheren meant to him, simply because it never came up, so she had never thought that she was that important in his eyes to be considered family.

For Greg, there was a heavy sense of Deja vu. He'd heard those words before, and he'd heard them from the same man that Ash heard them from. Life was funny that way. He was getting the same speech he'd gotten nearly two decades ago that he was getting right now. Out of nowhere, Greg started laughing like a mad man, clutching his stomach. Ash and Bianca watched with confused expressions as Greg laughed hysterically, like he'd heard the funniest joke he'd ever been told, like he was on the gas the dentist gave Ash when he got a tooth pulled. Once the man finally calmed himself down, he took a deep breath. For a moment there had been a different boy standing in Ash's place.

"Alright then Ash, i'll leave the protection of my Daughter in your hands." Greg then quickly turned around, crossing his arms. "Now get going before i change my mind." Ash and Bianca grinned at each other, high-fiving, before turning around towards Cheren's house, which was down the street from Bianca's.

"Thanks Dad! Bye!" Bianca called back as the two left off, and Greg sighed heavily.

"Those kids, I swear." He turned around to the sound of giggling, to see his wife standing there.

"I'm proud of you, honey. You finally stopped being so overprotective." She gave him a quick peck on the cheek, before giggling again. "And Ash was pretty charming down there, sticking up for her, don't you think?" As she walked off, Greg's eyes narrowed in parental fury.

"If that boy lays a hand on my Bianca..." He growled, watching the kids walk off.

* * *

Ash and Bianca sweat dropped as they approached Cheren's house. They knew they had taken a lot longer than he'd expected, and judging by how he usually acted when they were late, this wasn't gonna go over too well. When they finally reached the steps, their theory was proven correct. Cheren was standing in front of his door, arms crossed and his scowl even more scary then usual as he tapped his foot patiently against the ground.

"What took you so long? I've been here for half an hour!" He huffed, and both kids laughed nervously. Yep, he was upset alright.

"Soo~rry," Bianca apologized, "But we're here now, so it's fine!" Cheren face palmed at her logic.

"No it isn't! That's not how that works!" Cheren sighed, adjusting his glasses, before shaking his head. "Whatever, let's get going." Ash and Bianca laughed as the trio made their way to the exiting point of Pallet Town, the beginning of Route One. As the trio stood on the edge of their home town, a thought suddenly came to Bianca's head.

"Hey guys, can I ask you two a favor?" Bianca questioned suddenly, and the two boys both turned to the blonde, one curious and one slightly less curious, and still irritated from earlier.

"What is it?"

"Yeah, what's up?"

Bianca scratched the back of her head. "Well, since we all became Trainers together," She began,"I kinda wanted to take our first steps out of Pallet Town together too!" Cheren pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Seriously? That's just plain corny," He deadpanned, "Absolutely not." Ash threw his arm over Cheren's shoulders, grinning.

"Aw c'mon Cheren, don't be so serious. Just let her have this one," He egged the boy on, "It won't hurt you." Cheren sighed in defeat once Ash let him go. He couldn't believe he was about to do this.

"Fine," He grumbled, and Bianca jumped up and down in celebration.

"Alright!" She cheered, and together, the trio turned back towards the road ahead of them. "On the count of three! One!"

Ash turned his hat backwards. One final step, and his life would change forever. "Two!"

Cheren rolled his eyes. This was still too cheesy. "Three." And in a single step, Pallet Town, the only place they'd ever known, stood behind them...

And a whole new world loomed ahead.

* * *

 **And there goes Chapter 2! I know Ash kinda friend zoned Bianca this Chapter with the whole "friends are family" thing, but it's only Chapter 2, so fear not my dear readers. The ship has not sank.**

 **'Till next time,**

 **Peace!**


	3. The Road To Viridian City!

**3Yo! It's me, Zeo! I'm here with the third and final chapter of the triple update! I kinda want to just put out the next chapter too since any past readers already know the next chapter's story, but I need to pace myself and that means writing ahead, not just spilling everything at once. I've learned that in my time away.**

 **But with aaaaaaaaall that out of the way, I present to you...**

* * *

 ** _Master Quest: Kanto Saga!_**

 ** _Chapter 3:_**

 ** _"The Road To Viridian City!"_**

* * *

Ash and the group were making their way through Route One, and thus far, it had been a pretty uneventful trip. Save the conversations they had, Route One had been fairly boring. No Pokemon had encountered them, they hadn't bumped into any other Trainers, it was just a plain old walk down Route One.

Needless to say, they had expected a bit more excitement when they became Trainers.

"My legs are kinda tired," Bianca groaned suddenly, stopping, "Can we take a break now?" Ash yawned, plopping down in the grass.

"I'm down for a break! How 'bout you, Cheren?" The aforementioned boy sat down crisscross apple sauce style in the grass as well, although he didn't look too pleased about it.

"Well, since you two seem to already be breaking," He replied, "I don't have much of a choice." Ash chuckled, laying down in the grass. Bianca plopped down beside him.

"So Bianca," Ash questioned as the girl sat down, "Have you thought about what you're goal's gonna be?" Before she could answer, Cheren piped in.

"You're telling me you went on a Journey without any goals in mind?" He asked in what sounded like disbelief. The blonde scratched the back of her head sheepishly.

"Since you and Cheren were leaving, I kinda just went along with you two so I wouldn't get left behind," She admitted, and Cheren shook his head in disapproval.

"Reckless as always," The boy sighed, and Bianca stuck her tongue out at the glasses wearing boy.

"You're just too uptight!" She shot back, and Ash laughed at Cheren's surprised expression. he hadn't expected her to have a decent comeback.

"Whatever," He mumbled, adjusting his glasses. He wasn't uptight, he just acted how young adults were supposed to. It wasn't his fault she acted like a toddler. Before he could voice that thought, the sound of fluttering wings drew everyone's attention.

A bird-like Pokemon landed a few feet away from them, with brown feathers covering most of it's body, with the exception of it's cream colored face and underbelly. Black, angular markings covered it's eyes, and the Pokemon had cream colored feathers on the tips of it's wings.

"It's a Pidgey," Ash noted, taking out his Pokedex to scan it.

 **"Pidgey, the Tiny Bird Pokemon. Among all the Flying Pokemon, it is the gentlest and easiest to capture, making it a perfect target for the beginning Pokemon Trainer to test their Pokemon's skills. Pidgey's Gust power can create tornadoes, and it can use Sand-Attack to flee from battle."**

"It's a Normal and Flying Type, too," Ash noted, closing his Pokedex and smirking. "I'm gonna catch it!" Cheren adjusted his glasses as Ash rose to his feet.

"Normally I'd try to capture it," Cheren sighed, "But it's your birthday, so you can have this one." Bianca nodded, enthusiastically as always.

"Yeah! Pidgey's cute, but it's not my style. Go for it Ash!" Ash turned his hat backwards, something he always did for good luck. This would be his first attempt at catching a Pokemon, the next step towards achieving his goal.

"Pidgey," Ash announced loudly, drawing the flying type's attention, "I challenge you to a battle!" Pidgey stared at Ash like he grew a second head. Battle? With some random human? As if it would waste it's time on some lowly weak creature like that.

"Pidgey!" Pidgey huffed, turning it's head away from the group. Ash face faulted. Rejected by a wild Pokemon?

"Hey! Don't ignore me!" Ash shouted, marching over to the tiny bird Pokemon. "I challenge you to a battle!" He repeated. Pidgey turned to Ash with a glare. This human had some nerve talking to Pidgey like that. Who did he think he was? He was just some lowly, cowardly Human that had to bark orders at Pokemon to do the fighting for him. Pidgey had no reason to acknowledge his challenge, let alone accept it.

"Pidgeee!" Pidgey used Gust to send Ash tumbling away before turning around this time. Ash coughed as he was assisted by Cheren and Bianca.

"Ugh...thanks guys," Ash groaned as they lifted him back onto his feet.

"No problem," Cheren replied, looking back at Pidgey, "Although I do now have to question the validity of these Pokedexes now. They said Pidgey was easy to capture, but it's being quite difficult with Ash at the moment." Ash rubbed his back a bit before smirking.

"Maybe most Pidgey are easy to catch," Ash started walking towards it again, "But this one's different. It's a fighter, and I like fighters." He walked up to Pidgey again, and again, Pidgey ignored it. "Pidgey, I challenge you to a battle!" Pidgey ignored him entirely this time, and Ash growled, taking out Charmander's Pokeball. "I'll show you not to ignore me! Charmander, come out and use Ember!" Charmander emerged in a beam of light, firing a barrage of fiery pellets at the Tiny Bird Pokemon. Pidgey sighed. Was this human stupid enough to think it would sit there and let itself be hit?

Pidgey flew into the air, easily evading all of Charmander's attempt to hit it with Ember. Charmander taunted Ash by doing tricks in the air as it dodged, flying on it's back, and generally being a jerk. Charmander growled in frustration. Why was Pidgey so easily dodging all of it's attacks? Was Ember that slow?

Meanwhile, Pidgey was starting to grow bored of this human. It had been fun for a little bit, but now all of the human's angry shouting was becoming annoying. It quickly dodged another Ember, but this time, instead of slowly fading as it shot through the air after missing their target, the Embers struck a tree, lighting it on fire.

"Ohcrapohcrap!" Ash panicked as the fire began to grow, "Cheren, you gotta put that fire out fast!" Cheren wasted no time in calling out Squirtle.

"Squirtle, use Bubble to put out that fire!" Squirtle nodded breathing in as much as it could to try and create as many Bubbles as possible , before finally blowing out a huge stream of Bubbles at the tree. After a few more shots, the bubbles managed to put the fire out, but there was hardly a tree left to burn. The tree had lost all of it's leaves, most of of it's branches, and looked more like a tree in fall than a tree in spring.

"I hope no pokemon were in that tree," Bianca said with concern, causing Ash to frown. If it weren't for that Pidgey...

That's when Ash realized.

"That Pidgey's gone!" The others looked around as if to confirm his sudden realization, and it was indeed true. The Pidgey Ash had been after was nowhere to be seen.

"It must have snuck away while we were putting out that fire," Cheren concluded, adjusting his glasses. "That Pidgey was one slick bird." Ash's head drooped. He'd really wanted to catch that Pidgey, or at least teach it a lesson. Seeing Ash's bummed expression, Cheren added, "Pidgey's a very common Pokemon on the Routes surrounding Pallet Town. There's a high probability we'll see a more friendly Pidgey next time around." Ash reluctantly nodded as the group began walking again.

He wanted _that_ Pidgey.

Meanwhile, Pidgey watched the group from afar. It had hid once the fire started so it could see how the humans run away and laugh at how cowardly they were. But surprisingly, they were competent enough to actually put the fire out. Pidgey decided to follow them from afar, taking to the skies once they were far enough away not to notice it. It would keep an eye on these humans, it decided. They were interesting.

* * *

The group had been travelling for about twenty minutes when Cheren's predictions from their earlier encounter with that Pidgey came true. Well, not quite. As the group walked, they spotted another bird Pokemon in their path, though this one was not a Pidgey like last time. Instead, it was a small bird Pokemon, with It rough, brown plumage on its head with a short, hooked beak. It's belly was beige with two thin stripes, and it's wings where pinish red with light pink tips. It's pink talons were digging into the ground, and it was pecking furiously at the earth with is's black colored beak. Ash quickly whipped out his Pokedex for the second time that day.

 **"Spearow, the angry bird Pokemon. Unlike Pidgey, Spearow has a terrible attitude. It is very wild and will sometimes attack other Pokémon and humans."**

"I think you jinxed us when you said 'plenty of friendly Pidgey," Ash dead panned, and Cheren crossed his arms.

"Jinxing is just another example of superstition," He huffed, "This is simply a matter of irony." Bianca giggled.

"You said supatisin again!" She cheered, and Cheren scowled.

"It's _superstition_!" He corrected, before adjusting his glasses. "Anyway, since you got, well, _tried_ to get that Pidgey last time, i'll take this opportunity to capture Spearow." Cheren stepped forward, and Ash put his hands behind his head.

"Go for it," Ash stepped back, giving Cheren room to battle as the latter pulled out Squirtle's Pokeball.

"Alright Squirtle, on guard!" Squirtlew appeared, calm as usual, on the battlefield. Again, Ash and Bianca couldn't help but notice how similar the two acted. It was like the two were made for each other. "Spearow," Cheren's calm but strong voice rang through the area, "I challenge you!" The Spearow looked up from it's pecking to examine the human that was challenging it. The human didn't look too shabby, but it would need to test him before it let itself be captured.

"Spear," Spearow seemed to accept the challenge as it flew over to the area where the group was, and Ash fell over in disbelief.

"Are you kidding me!?" He exclaimed, "I get a mean Pidgey, but he gets a nice Spearow?" Cheren smirked.

"Tough luck for you, huh Ash? Losing to me _and_ getting a mean Pokemon on your first try," He teased, and the spiky haired boy stuck his tongue out at him childishly. Bianca giggled at their interactions. Those two acted like brothers, one minute cool and the next teasing each other. Turning his attention back to Spearow, Cheren returned to his serious mode. "Are you ready Squirtle?" Squirtle nodded. It was going to keep up it's winning streak right now by going 2-0.

"Squirtle, use Leer!" Squirtle's eyes took on a soft glow, and Spearow shuddered as it felt it's defenses drop. Ash's eyes widened as he realized quick what Cheren was planning.

"He's gonna do the same thing he did to me!" He exclaimed, and Bianca turned to him curiously.

"What are you talking about?" Ash, without looking away from the battle, proceeded to explain.

"Well, Leer's a move that lowers defense," He began as Spearow shot at Squirtle with peck, only for Squirtle to dodge easily, nailing it with a bubble. "So he uses Leer every chance he gets, and uses Bubble to get you to forget that Squirtle has Pound. Then once you're tired and your defenses are low, Squirtle can use Pound and end the battle." He finished, just as Spearow use Gust to blow a flurry of Bubbles black at Squirtle, who held it's eyes in pain for a moment.

"Oh," Bianca muttered, turning back to the battle as well, "Cheren's really smart." Ash nodded, a smirk on his face.

"Totally."

Cheren grimaced as Squirtle was blown off it's feet by another Gust. This Spearow wasn't holding back one bit. if he wasn't careful, he'd end up losing the battle. "Squirtle, Leer!" Squirtle began focusing on Spearow, eyes glowing, but before it could establish a strong connection Spearow interrupted with a Peck to it's belly, sending the turtle Pokemon tumbling backwards. Squirtle landed on it's back, and much to Cheren's dismay, was stuck.

"Oh no..." Cheren groaned as Squirtle flailed it's limbs in an attempt to flip itself over, but the struggle was in vain, as Squirtle's shell had made it too high in the air to stand back up,it's legs unable to pull hard enough to bring Squirtle down. Spearow took this opportunity to fly upwards, it's beak slowly taking on a white glow as it did so.

"If that hits, Squirtle's done for," Cheren mumbled, pushing up his glasses just as Spearow began shooting down downward. "Squirtle, Bubble the ground to push yourself up!" Squirtle nodded, turning it's neck as much as it could and firing a stream of bubbles at the ground. Just as Spearow was about to collide with it, Squirtle managed to flip sideways, causing the Spearow to bury itself beak first into the dirt. Squirtle fully turned itself over, before regaining its stance. Cheren smirked. He'd won this one.

"Squirtle, Leer, once more." Squirtle's eyes glowed, and Spearow felt it's defenses plummet again. This human was more than good enough for it...

"Now, Pound!" Squirtle reared it's arm back, allowing it's fist to be coated in glowing white light, before swing right at Spearow's unprotected gut. The angry bird Pokemon crashed to the ground, and Cheren unclipped one of the vacant Pokeballs from his belt. "Pokeball, go!" He said as he threw it, watching with baited breath as it connected, sucking the Spearow inside with a beam of red light. The Pokeball wiggled for a few seconds before finally clicking shut, signalling that Spearow was caught.

"Target acquired," Cheren adjusted his glasses again as Squirtle brought him the Pokeball. Squirtle smiled with pride. It had won again, just like it planned on. "Thank you, you did an excellent job. Have a nice rest," Cheren smiled, rubbing Squirtle's head before returning the turtle Pokemon to it's Pokeball to recover. Ash and Cheren ran over to him.

"Great job, Cheren!" Bianca congratulated, "You looked super cool!"

"Yeah, good job man!" Ash added, although he didn't sound as enthusiastic. Truth be told, he kept thinking back to that Pidgey from earlier. "I just wished that Pidgey had been as nice." Pidgey, who had been watching from afar, was surprised at this. That human still wanted it, after all it did to him? Well, he was stubborn, it gave him that. Deciding it wanted to toy with Ash and the others more, Pidgey flew out, cawing loudly to garner the group's attention.

Predictably, it got the exact reaction it wanted.

"It's back!" Ash exclaimed with a grin, and Cheren smirked.

"Maybe your birthday luck's finally kicking in," Cheren proposed, and Bianca gasped.

"I thought you didn't believe in souperision!" She exclaimed, and Cheren's eyebrow twitched.

"For the last time, it's superstition!" He seethed, before adjusting his glasses. "And I don't, that comment was intended to be humorous, not to be representative of my actual thoughts and views." Bianca tilted her head to the side, clearly not getting a word he just said.

"Kay," She replied simply, and Cheren felt the urge to bang his head on a wall. She was impossible.

Meanwhile, Ash was standing face to face with Pidgey, this time determined to catch it. it wouldn't get away again, if he had anything to say about it. Pulling out Charmander's Pokeball, Ash pointed at Pidgey. "I challenge you, Pidgey!" He shouted, and Pidgey rolled it's eyes. Again with this battle nonsense? Pidgey wasn't going to get it's feathers dirty fighting some lowly human trained Pokemon and it's even more lowly coward human of a Trainer. Humans weren't worthy of that privilege.

Pidgey huffed, turning away from him again, and Ash scowled. "If you weren't gonna battle me, why'd you show up again?" He asked angrily, and the tiny bird Pokemon just shrugged. It thought annoying these humans was fun, is all. And they were a little bit interesting. Ash's scowl deepened. "Well if that's how you're gonna be, then I'll force you to fight back! Charmander, i choose you!" Without hesitation Ash tossed out Charmander, the orange lizard Pokemon landing on it's feet and frowning much like Ash was. That Pidgey had played around with them long enough!

Pidgey just rolled it's eyes again, though it did find it amusing how easily riled up the two got. That was always entertaining to watch.

"Charmander, Scratch!" Charmander ran at Pidgey as fast as it's legs could carry it, hands glowing with energy. Pidgey flew into the air just in time to avoid the swing, before landing on the ground a few feet away. Ash was about to command Charmander to use Ember again, when he rememberd what happened last time. He didn't want to burn any more trees, especially when there was the possibility of Pokemon being in them. He'd have to rely on Charmander's speed to hit Scratch, or use Ember once he was sure Pidgey couldn't dodge it.

"Use Scratch again!" Pidgey merely flew out the way again, flying circles around Charmander as if to pour salt into the wound, before landing behind it. Pidgey just laughed at Charmander's enraged expression. Toying with these Humans and their stupid, Human trained Pokemon was just too easy. Seeing that this was getting nowhere, Cheren spoke up.

"Perhaps I could lend you Spearow," He suggested, "Since Pidgey's flying abilities give it the edge when dodging your attacks, and Charmander can't fly up there to reach it, maybe the answer to that is another flying type." Ash looked as if he was considering it for a moment, before shaking his head.

"No thanks," He denied, "It's a great idea and all, but this is _my_ first catch! I'm gonna do this all by myself, so you just watch me!" Cheren sighed, shaking his head.

"Stubborn," He muttered as Ash returned his focus to Pidgey.

"Okay Charmander, time to take it up a notch! Use Scratch, one more time!" Ash shouted, and Charmander smacked it's tail against the ground before shooting towards Pidgey at an alarmingly fast speed for the flying type. Pidgey narrowly flew to the side of the forward charge, before flying up to avoid the follow up swing. Pidgey looked down at the duo in disbelief. Had that stupid Human and his Pokemon got faster? Pidgey shook it's head. No, that must've been a fluke. No Human trained Pokemon could ever reach it's level.

"Charmander, jump up and Scratch again!" Charmander jumped as high as it could, hand glowing with light as it swung, again narrowly missing Pidgey, who managed to propel itself out the way of the swing just in time. Charmander jumped again, and again came up just short,l but it was getting closer each try. Charmander smirked. It was going to get fast enough soon. It could feel itself getting faster and stronger by the moment. It could catch that Pidgey if this kept up!

Pidgey, on the other hand, was absolutely furious. How? How was this human and hist weak Pokemon able to keep getting stronger? How was Charmander able to even get close to reaching it's level of speed? This wasn't happening! It wasn't going to allow this to happen!

Pidgey dodged another swing, and another, and another, before finally flying to the side to avoid a powerful swing from the fire type, however, Charmander's momentum caused it to keep flying down until it collided with a small figure who happened to be resting in the tree. Ash Charmander landed flat on it's behind. The figured cawed loudly, drawing everyone's, even Pidgey's, attention. The figure flew from out of the Tree and revealed itself to be a Spearow, a large bump on it's head showing where Charmander hit it. The Spearow had tears in it's eyes, and looked very upset with the group.

Ash sweat dropped. He'd messed something up dealing with Pidgey for the second time that day. "Uh...sorry?" He apologized meekly, and the Spearow didn't even bother replying. It just cawed even louder than it had the first time, and suddenly, a bunch of distant caws answered back. Ash and the others gulped. This couldn't be good. Pidgey took this time to hide while everyone was distracted. It had no desire to fight any Spearow, especially after that close encounter with Charmander.

"We need to get moving, now!" Cheren exclaimed, and nobody argued with him. The trio all mad a mad dash in the opposite direction of the oncoming Spearow, not even sure what direction they were heading. That compass sure would've came in handy, but he was a bit too busy running for his life to stop and check inside his backpack to see if his mom packed it. The trio kept running ahead until the Spearow, being faster naturally, started catching up. Charmander, who was the fatherst behind Cheren, was the first to feel it firsthand.

A Spearow pecked Charmander right in the leg, causing the fire lizards to trip up and fall, before quickly being surrounded. "Char!" It screamed as it started being pecked all over, and the group stopped to see what was up. Ash quickly whipped out Charmander's Pokeball once he figured out what was happening.

"Charmander, return!" He shouted, but it wouldn't work. The beam couldn't reach Charmander's body due to all the Spearow blocking the way. Ash grimaced. That meant there was only one way to do this. "Here I come Charmander!" Ash called out as he ran head first at the Spearow, much to Ash and Bianca's disbelief.

"Ash!" The duo cried as Ash dived through the Spearow surrounding Charmander, ignoring the pain of all the Pecks he received while reach Charmander. Picking the fire lizard up, Ash burst through the flock again, holding Charmander's unconscious body as he started running again, followed by Cheren, Bianca, and the horde of Spearow.

"These Spearow just don't quit!" Cheren commented as they continued running, "You alright Ash?" Ash nodded, still wincing in pain.

"Yeah, I'll be fine, and you're right," Ash sighed, "They don't quit at all." As the group kept running, they were forced to stop once they reached a dead end. Cheren cursed under his breath. Of all the times to hit a dead end...

"Crap!" He shouted, "What now?" Bianca peered over the side of the cliff, and saw the large body of water down below.

"I say we jump into the water!" She suggested, and Cheren's eyes widened.

"Are you crazy!? From this altitude, the force of impact we'd feel from hitting the water could break our bones, or even kill us!" Ash turned to look at the Spearow flock. They didn't have much longer to decide.

"Well if we stay up here much longer we'll definitely die, so I'm jumping!" Returning Charmander, Ash turned his cap backwards, gulping. Cheren turned to Ash, the same bewildered expression on his face.

"What is wrong with you two!?" He questioned, but without another word, Ash walked to the edge.

"Giranomo!" Ash shouted, jumping off just like that. Bianca stepped up next.

"Well, I guess it's time I learned how to swim! Weeeee!" Cheren paled as Bianca dived off too. She didn't know how swim, and she dived into a river from a freaking cliff? Had they both lost their minds? Cheren's thoughts were cut off by a loud cry, and Cheren turned to see the Spearow weere near inches away.

"Well if I'm gonna die," He muttered, running to the cliff, "Might as well make it quick!" And Cheren jumped off as well, straight down into the river below, certain they were all going to die.

* * *

It had been a pretty mundane day for Misty Waterflower thus far. The redish orange haired girl had been fishing at the River for about three hours, and in that time, she'd managed to catch...absolutely nothing. Sure, she'd fished up into plenty of Magikarp, but not only were they completely useless in battle, but they evolved into Gyrados.

And Misty _hated_ Gyrados.

Almost as much as she hated Carrots.

And Bugs.

And stupid boys.

So, in short, it hadn't been a very exciting day thus far for the girl dressed in a yellow tank top, suspenders, and sneakers who was fishing by the lake on a warm spring afternoon.

But that was soon to change.

Just as she was considering calling it a day, a sudden tug on her line seemed to bring the girl to life. Jumping to her feet, Misty began trying teel the fish in.

"This is a big one!" She noted, pulling even harder as she struggled to yank whatever it was out the water. Just how big was this fish!? Well, at least she knew it wasn't another Magikarp...

...Wait.

What if if was a Gyrados!? What if one of the Magikarp she tossed back earlier had evolved underwater and was coming back to get it's vengeance? What if it tried to eat her? What if-

Misty, having gotten so lost in her train of thought, hadn't noticed she was still reeling whatever fish it was in until she heard the sound of something breaking the surface. Turning, very slowly, to what she reeled in, she shrieked when what she reeled in wasn't even a Gyrados...but some dead kids! Dropping them on the surface, Misty hesitantly approached them. Two black haired boy, and one blonde girl were laying on the ground.

 _If they're dead, I run. If they aren't dead, I'll try and help_ , She mentally decided, shaking the nearest one, the spiky black haired one. "Hey, are you...uh...alive?" She questioned awkwardly, and after a few minutes, Ash slowly began to regain consciousness, coughing up a bit of water, thankfully not at Misty, or he might've went back to sleep for a bit longer.

"Ugh...Cheren was right about that whole water impact thing...I'm hurting everywhere..." Ash groaned, rubbing his eyes, before finally realizing she was there. "Who're you?" Misty blinked, staring at the boy who'd just been fished out the river curiously, before shaking her head.

"Misty! Misty Waterflower! And you are?" Ash sat up completely, finally seeming to get back to his senses.

"Ash Ketchum." The boy looked around, before raising a brow. "How did I get here?" Misty pointed to her Fishing Rod with a giggle.

"I kinda fished you out of the ocean," She explained, and Ash sweat dropped.

"Really? Sorry. You see, me and my friends were..." Ash's eyes widened. "My friends! Did you see them anywhere?" Misty nodded, pointing behind him. Ash quickly turned around, and saw both Cheren and Bianca, albeit unconscious, lying down too. Ash reached up, and felt his hat, still soaked, but nearly stuck to his head. "If you fished me out the river, how'd my hat stay on?" He wondered aloud. Misty shrugged. Now that she thought about it, how had his hat stayed on?

"Maybe you just got really lucky?" She suggested Ash nodded.

"Maybe." Deciding to wake up his friends, Ash started with Bianca. "Hey Bianca, wake up, we lived!" He called out to the blonde, who slowly woke up in a similar manner to Ash.

"Is dinner ready yet, Momma?" She asked groggily, "I wanna have blueberry ice cream!" Ash and Misty sweat dropped. Even when she wasn't fully awake, she was a bit strange.

"Uh, Bianca?" Ash called awkwardly, and finally the blonde snapped out of her dream.

"Huh? Ash? Where am I? Are we dead? OH MY GOSH, IS THIS HEA-" Ash cut her off.

"No!" He exclaimed, "We lived! Calm down." Bianca scratched the back of her head sheepishly, before noticing Misty there.

"Hiiii!" She greeted, "I'm Bianca!" Misty blinked, realizing the weird girl was addressing her.

"Uh...I'm Misty." She replied slowly, as if still not sure what to say to her. Ash woke up Cheren next, who, much like Ash, realized what happened the moment he opened his eyes.

"How in Arceus's name did we live that fall?" Cheren questioned, and Ash shrugged.

"Birthday luck?" He suggested, chuckling. Misty's eyes widened.

"Oh! That reminds me! I forgot to ask, but Ash, how did you three wind up in the river?" Ash opened his mouth to answer, but a loud cawing sound drew everyone's attention to the cliff Ash and his friends had jumped off of. Coming down said cliff were the same Spearow that had been casing Ash, as relentless and angry as ever.

"That's how!" Ash replied frantically, getting to his feet and starting to run. Before he got too far, something caught his eye though. A Bike, lying against a tree. It must've been Misty's. "Can I borrow this?" Misty blinked, before turning to the Spearow Flock. She could see why he needed it more than her right now.

"Sure," She agreed, "Just make sure you return it in one piece!" Ash have the read head a thumbs up.

"Got'cha! Thanks Misty! I owe ya one!" Ash then blinked, realizing that Cheren and Bianca also had to get away. Turning back to the duo, Ash sweat dropped. "Which one of us are gonna take it?" Cheren adjusted his glasses.

"Based off the size of that seat, although it goes against every bike safety book I've ever read, two people could fit on there. So the question is, who has to here with Misty," He explained, and then smirked. "I can do that. You and Bianca can go." Ash frowned.

"But I can't just-" Ash's argument was cut short by the shrieking cry of the Spearow. They were getting closer.

"Ash, now isn't the time to argue. You and Bianca need to go! Now!" Ash solemnly nodded. getting on the bike, followed by Bianca. "Good luck." Bianca winked, giving Cheren a thumbs up.

"We got this!" Cheren watched as the two rode off.

"I sure hope you do." Another shriek from the Spearow brought Cheren back into reality.

"We better get to hiding, before they attack us!" Misty suggested, and Cheren nodded.

"Right." The two disappeared into the foliage right as the Spearow flock flew overhead, still going after Ash and now Bianca. Cheren prayed that they'd manage to escape them somehow.

Pidgey meanwhile, continued to follow Ash from afar. Seeing him try to escape the Spearow was pretty entertaining.

* * *

Ash was pedaling away like it was professional race as he and Bianca sped down Route One's path. At least, he thought it was Route One. At this point, he wasn't quite sure where they where, and he really didn't care. They just needed to outrun these insanely determined Spearow. Directions could come after that.

"Speeeeeaarooooow!"

Another loud shriek, and Ash turned around to see how close they were, and they were a bit too close for comfort.

"Ash! Turn around!" Bianca cried, but it was too little too late. Ash turned around just in time to see they were approaching a small cliff, and before he could stop, the duo rode clean off the top, flying through the air and off of the bike, before crashing to the ground. The Bike crashed and skidded across the ground, while the two children were laying out across the ground. Ash groaned as he sat up.

"Another crash like that, and i don't think i'll make it," He sighed, rubbing his sore back. Bianca dizzily sat up as well, though she was a it disoriented.

"Ash, that's tree's made of swirlies!" She gushed, pointing at a perfectly normal tree with a dazed look in her eyes. Ash sweat dropped. Now wasn't the time for this!

"Bianca, snap out of it!" He shouted, and the girl blinked, before realizing where they were. The Spearow finally caught up with them, and Ash gravely realized they couldn't keep this up forever. Sooner or later, they'd get caught. Which meant that this chase had to stop now.

Ash slowly detached Charmander's Pokeball from his belt. "Listen Bianca," The blonde turned towards him as instructed, "I need you to take Charmander and run as far away from here as you can."

"Are you crazy!?" She gasped, "I can't leave you here all alone!" Ash handed her the Pokeball anyway, before turning to face the Spearow.

"I promised your Dad that I'd protect you, and that's what I'm doing!" He shouted, "Now hurry up and go!" Bianca bit her lip. She knew that if she stayed it wouldn't make much of a difference, and if she ran, then maybe she could reach a nearby city and get Ash some help from the police or something. She knew that, and the sensible part of her brain, as often as she ignored it, was telling her to go. Her mind drifted back to the conversation she'd had with Ash and her dad, no more than a few hours ago...

 _"My Dad told me the most important thing I'd ever have is my family. To me, friends are family, and Bianca's one of my best friends! She's family, so that means I'm gonna protect her with all I've got!"_

That's right. Friends were family too, and Ash was protecting her because she was his family. But if she was family, then she couldn't just abandon him...could she?

"Listen up, you stupid Spearow!" Ash shouted, "My name's Ash Ketchum, and one day, i'm gonna be a Pokemon Master! Hit me with your best shot, i'm not dying today! You hear me!?" If she didn't do something, both of them would die, but there was nothing she could do to help either of them...she was useless. Useless as always.

The Spearow, seemingly done listening to Ash's words, all charged straight at him. But Ash didn't even blink. He just stood there with the same defiant fire in his eyes, arms wide open to take on anything the wild flock could dish out. Even now, as it looked like everything was about to end, he was still strong as always...

That was when Bianca decided.

"You heard Ash!" Ash turned in surprise to see Bianca, arms spread, standing right beside him.

"Bianca...what are you doing!? I told you to get away!" He exclaimed, and Bianca shook her head fiercely. She wasn't going anywhere.

"You said that you're supposed to protect your family, right? Well, just like how I'm your family," She flashed him a grin, in spite of everything happening at that moment, "You're my family too!" Ash, for a moment, wasn't quite sure what to do besides stare at her in disbelief. This whole time he'd been trying to be the hero and protect his friend, he'd forgotten that he was her friend too. It worked both ways.

"...Right." Ash and Bianca both turned back to the Spearow, who were mere seconds away from impaling the young trainers. "Family sticks together." They closed their eyes, accepting their fates with smiles on their faces...

...But nothing happened.

Except for some wind?

Ash opened his eyes first, and instead of the angry Spearow flock he'd stared at moments before, a giant tornado of sand was twisting about in front of him. Ash's jaw dropped. What in the world was going on?

Before he could question it for too long, a familiar stuck up bird appeared before him, and pointed in the opposite direction of the tornado.

"Sand Attack...Pidgey? But how-why-what-" Pidgey pecked him on the arm, and he quickly got the message. He didn't need to he pecked twice. "Bianca, we need to get outta here!" The duo wasted no time, running as far away as they could after running for so long already. Finally they stopped, the two collapsing against a large tree.

"We...did it..." Ash sighed, and Bianca nodded.

"Yeah...we did," She agreed, and suddenly, the two found themselves laughing. Maybe it was the exhaustion getting to their heads, maybe it was falling off of things one too many times, or maybe it was just a result of their relief at being alive. Regardless of reason, the two just laughed and laughed, until a familiar cry drew their attention.

"Pidgeeee!"

Both children turned to the source of the cry, and as they thought, Pidgey was there, flying towards them. Gracefully landing on a tree branch, Pidgey gave Ash a stare that the boy wasn't quite sure he completely understood.

"Pidgey, why did you help us?" Ash asked as he slowly caught his breath. Pidgey didn't answer, instead flying down into Ash's lap. Before Ash could question it, Pidgey pecked one of Ash's vacant Pokeballs, allowing itself to be sucked inside and almost instantly being caught. Ash and Bianca looked down at the Pokeball, then at each other, then back to the Pokeball, before shrugging.

"...I guess I just caught a Pidgey." Ash finally broke the silence. Bianca slowly nodded.

"Yeah, I guess you did." The two sat there for a while longer, staring at the sky and processing the past hour of events that had transpired, when an odd noise rang through the air, and for Ash, time seemed to slow to a stop. The leaves stopped mid rustle, the grass froze, everything came to a screeching halt. Even Bianca had seemingly been frozen.

"Wh-what'ts going on!?" Ash shot to his feet, eyes darting back and forth for any sign of moment. His answer came in the form of a loud, earth shaking screech and powerful gust of wind that nearly knocked Ash off his feet. "Woaaaaaah! What the heck!?" He grunted, managing to withstand the wind. Looking upwards to the source of the birdlike screech, Ash's jaw dropped.

The silhouette of a monstrously large birdlike creature was staring down at him, piercing red eyes meeting with his own. Ash collapsed to the ground against his will, a sudden gravity weighing on him, and involuntarily, he began to tremble in fear.

"What's...happening?" He whispered, staring down wide eyed at his shaking hands but unable to stop them, before looking back up at the creature. With another loud screech, the creature flapped it's wings and an immensely powerful wind, alongside a blinding light, enveloped the entire clearing, forcing Ash to shield his eyes.

 _ **"The world is dying, child of Gold."**_

"Ash?" Ash's eyes shot open and he looked to Bianca, who was staring at him with a confused and seemingly concerned expression.

"Huh? What happened?" Ash mumbled, shaking his head.

"You zoned out while I was talking to you and then closed your eyes really tight and I was kinda scared," Bianca explained, sheepishly scratching her head, before frowning. "Hey, what's that thing on your head?" Ash blinked a few times in confusion.

"What thing are you..." He reached up, feeling around on his head until his fingers ran across something he didn't recognize. He took it down to examine it, and his eyes widened. It was a feather, a rather large one at that. But the interesting part wasn't its size. It was that it seemed to radiate a strange power, that drew you into it. It shined with all the colors of the rainbow, and sparkled in the sunlight. Ash and Bianca were staring as if hypnotized by the feather, until a familiar voice snapped them out of it.

"Ash!" This time, coming from the same direction Pidgey had came from, was Cheren and Misty, the latter of which was carrying a large, black ring. Wait a minute, Ash squinted, looking closer. That wasn't a ring, it was a wheel...

Oh no.

"ASH, YOU BETTER HAVE A GOOD EXCUSE FOR BREAKING MY BIKE, OR _I'M_ gonna have a _great_ excuse to BREAK _YOU_!" Ash paled in fear at the redhead.

It was one disaster after the other today, he noted dryly with a sigh.

So much for birthday luck.

* * *

 _ **For those of you who read the last version of this story, you'll notice there's something...new, happening, heh heh. Wonder what it is? Maybe it's connected to something new from a different chapter? I dunno, I'm just the author. *Wink***_

 **Also, starting next chapter, I'll start answering review questions, so feel free to ask me anything about the story(obviously nothing too spoiler heavy) and I'll answer it before the start of the chapter!**

 **Hope you guys enjoyed the Chapter, and if so, stick around for next chapter, because Ash gets introduced to a certain electric yellow rodent. 'Till then,**

 **Peace!**

* * *

 _ ***Next Week***_

 _ **Chapter 4: "The Bandit Of Viridian Forest!"**_


	4. The Bandit of Viridian Forest!

**Yo! It's me, Zeo, with the last of these "rehearsal" chapters, after this it's all new writing! I hope you all enjoyed that Triple Chapter/New Year's Special, and more importantly, I hope you enjoyed your new year's. I enjoyed mine, especially after finally getting to publish MQ, even if it was slightly late. This week I'm on time though, and hopefully I am each Friday from this day onward! To clarify if you thought last Friday should have been a chapter, I meant the Friday the week after I published it, which was supposed to be on that Friday, but I ended up doing it Monday, so it turned into next Friday. Sorry if that was confusing.**

 **Now, moving onward to the new section of this story, the review R &R! You leave a story related review, and I reply to it here! I only have one review(the St. Elmo's Fire review, while the grammar thing was applicable with dialogue, I disagree with the capitalization bit and since it's kind of an automated review I just don't feel the need to respond to it) so this won't be long, and as time goes on I'll probably end up moving this to the end of the chapter, but for nooooow...**

 _ **jj4life015:**_ _"I really enjoyed the story so far it's really good. I barely see any AshXBianca shippings so I'm happy to see that. Also, I checked your profile and favorite stories and i think i started to read that series but I didn't have an account and lost the story, so I would like to say thank you for helping me find that story. I can't wait for the next chapter of this."_

 **This is I believe the third Imaginationshipping exclusive fic on the sit, the others being "Airheads in heat" and it's sequel, that are just AshXBianca and not AshXNewPersonEveryChapter. I wanted to give one of my fav ships some attention in a decent length fic and write something I feel I'll be satisfied with to see if my usual complaints with Ash fics, especially journey fics, can be averted.**

 **Now, with aaaaall that out of the way, I present to you...**

* * *

 ** _Master Quest: Kanto Saga!_**

 ** _Chapter 4:_**

 ** _"The Bandit Of Viridian Forest!"_**

* * *

Viridian City was _huge_.

That was the first thought that ran through the minds of Ash and Bianca as the quartet arrived in the large city. The next thought being, ' I'm hungry'.

"Woah!" Bianca gasped, eyes sparkling at the bustling city they had found themselves in. "This place is amazing!" Turning to her left, Bianca pointed to a restaurant, exclaiming "I wanna go there!", and before anyone had a chance to talk she then turned to her right, pointing at a Pokemon Gift Shop, "And there!" The rest of the group sweat dropped at her behavior, but it was understandable. As Pallet Town natives, Ash, Bianca, and Cheren had never experienced life outside of the slow, small town life they'd lived for all ten years of their existence. A big, bustling city like Viridian was a drastic change of pace.

The city itself was fairly big, at least in comparison to Pallet Town. The roads were made of cobblestone rather than the plain dirt roads they were accustomed to, and instead of old, wooden houses there were more modern, concrete buildings ranging from apartments and stores to towering skyscrapers. All over the place people were bustling about, parents with their children, other Pokemon Trainers, business folk dressed in suits and ties and talking into their PokeGears. It truly was a whole different feel from Pallet.

"We aren't here to be tourists," Cheren grabbed her by the back of her collar as she tried to run off, "We're here to find a place to rest for the day and restore our Pokemon." The sun was slowly beginning to set on their first day as Pokemon Trainers, that much was true.

"Fine!" The blonde pouted, crossing her arms, "You big spoil sport!" Cheren rolled his eyes, mumbling a typical 'whatever', before Ash pointed ahead.

"I think I see the Pokemon Center!" He exclaimed, running towards the building, and once the whole group reached it, it turned out Ash's guess was correct. It was indeed the Viridian City Pokemon Center. Not wasting any time admiring it, the group headed inside, and were greeted by a woman dresses in a typical Nurse outfit, with dark pink hair that extended to two large hoops that poked out of either side of her head. The woman bowed politely as they approached the front desk.

"Hello, and welcome to the Viridian City Pokemon Center. How may I be of service?" She greeted politely. Ash, Cheren, and Bianca all handed her their Pokeballs. Misty, being the only one in the group not to have battled recently, had no need to get her Pokemon restored.

"Can you heal up our Pokemon please?" Ash requested, and Nurse Joy nodded, smiling as she placed all their Pokeballs onto a tray.

"I will be back as soon as possible, please wait for a few moments." With that, Nurse Joy vanished into the back, leaving the group to lounge around in the meantime. Ash and Bianca flopped down on the couch, while Misty and Cheren both took their own seats in the surrounding chairs.

"Hey Cheren," Ash broke the silence that had began to set in, "Since you're challenging the Gyms too, do you know where the first Gym is?" Cheren adjusted his glasses, smirking.

"Obviously." He replied, causing Ash to frown in minor irritation. "There's actually a Gym here in Viridian City. But he only accepts challenges from Trainers who have Seven Badges, since he hates holding back."

"That's a bummer." Ash groaned, "So where's the next closest one?" Cheren closed his eyes to think for a moment, as if his mind was a map of the Region.

"The nearest Pokemon Gym from here would be in Pewter City," He said finally, and Ash dramatically punched the air above him.

"Then that's our next stop!" He declared, which was followed up by Cheren sighing.

"Not quite "our"s." He muttered, and the whole group raised a brow in confusion.

"Whadd'ya mean?" Bianca asked, and Cheren sighed again.

"I intended on telling you this anyway, so i guess now is as good a time as any." He paused for a moment, before continuing. "I'm not going to be continuing to travel with you all after today." Ash and Bianca both gasped in surprise. What was Cheren saying?

"What? But why?" Cheren knew this would be their reaction. They'd probably expected to travel together and have a bunch of amazing adventures and see all these new things with him...but that wasn't happening.

"Ash, you and I both are after the same goal. We both want to be the best. If we're constantly with each other, I don't feel like either of us can reach our full potential. For me, this journey's purpose is to make me stronger, and being alone will make me much stronger than being in a group." He explained, and Ash couldn't argue with that. Cheren had some good points, they were after the same goals, and it would be weird to travel with your competition.

"When are you leaving?" He asked instead of arguing any further, and Cheren was actually surprised at how calmly he took it. He'd expected some emotional argument, but this was more than preferable.

"Tomorrow morning, leaving while it's so close to sunset would be ill advised, would it not?" Before Ash could reply, Misty chimed in.

"Speaking of travelling, Ash, what are you gonna do about my bike? Hmmm?" Misty leaned over to Ash, giving him a suspicious stare. Ash sweat dropped. She really wasn't gonna let this bike thing go easily.

"I already told you, I'll give you a new bike...some day," He added the last part quietly, but it was still loud enough for everyone to hear, much to Misty's irritation.

"Some day? No way Ketchum, some day won't cut it!" Suddenly smiling, Misty sat back in her chair, crossing her arms. "Well if that's how it is, then until I get my bike back, I guess I'll be travelling with you two." Ash paled at her eerily happy expression. Why was she so happy to say she was travelling with them? What was she planning to do to? What was she planning to do _to him_? Before he could voice any of these concerns, a loud and quick 'ding' drew their attention to the front desk.

"Your Pokemon have been fully restored!" Nurse Joy informed a the group arrived to retrieve their Pokemon.

"Nurse Joy, may we also get two rooms for the night?" Cheren spoke up this time, and Nurse Joy nodded.

"Of course! Just sign in on that sheet over there." After each of them signed in and the group got the room keys, Cheren headed for the back room, where the phones where located. "I'm going to call my Mother, she told me to call her to let her know how my first day goes." He explained, and Ash's eyes lit up.

"I should call my house too!" Ash exclaimed, "I'm sure my Mom's worried sick." Bianca almost spoke up to agree, but she was hesitant to speak to her Dad again. He could change his mind on a whim, whenever he wanted, and if she didn't call, maybe she could avoid his response. But she did want to see her Mom...

"Bianca, you coming with?" Ash asked, snapping the blonde o\ut of her thoughts. Everyone was staring back at her. Bianca sheepishly rubbed the back of her neck.

"Oh! Sorry guys, I kinda dozed off for a second there. Let's go!" Not questioning her any further, the group walked down the narrow white halls of the Pokemon Center until they found themselves in a room surrounded by Video Phones. Not wasting time, Cheren took one near the left corner and dialed in his number. In only a single ring, a pale, black haired woman appeared on the screen.

"HI CHERRY BABY!" She greeted excitedly, causing the usually stoic boy to turn bright red.

"MOM!" He nervously exclaimed, voice uncharacteristically high, "Don't call me that in public!" His mother giggled at his clear embarrassment.

"Wouldn't want to _embarrass_ you in front of your little friends, hm?" She winked with a smile, causing everyone to chuckle at his misfortune. Cheren's mother was known to be quite the playful girl when she was younger, pulling pranks all through Pallet Town with Cheren's father before they went on their Pokemon Journeys. Now Cheren's mother and father lived in separate cities, Cheren and his mother living in Pallet Town while his father had moved to Fuschia City and started a new family, even having a daughter with the woman he cheated with.

Cheren hated his Dad for leaving and cheating on his Mom. She hadn't been the same since. She acted energetic and happy to compensate for the hole in her heart, he could tell when he heard her quietly crying her room once she thought he was asleep. Cheren shook his head. He didn't need to think about that right now, his Dad didn't deserve that much.

Meanwhile, across the room, Ash was talking to his own Mother.

"It's been pretty crazy, Mom, yeah." Ash agreed with a smile, before his eyes lit up in realization. "Oh, right! I also ran into this amazingly strong Pokemon I've never seen before, and it left me this really cool looking feather!" Ash pulled the glowing feather from under his cap, and Delia stared at it in awe.

"Oh wow! It's very pretty, Ash! What an amazing souvenir to keep from your first day as a Pokemon Trainer!" She congratulated, and Ash scratched his cheek.

"Yeah, it is pretty cool. I'm gonna call the Professor and show it to him, he'll get a kick out of it, I'm sure." Ash put the feather away and Delia giggled.

"I'm sure he will! I have to go now Ash, please be safe out there for your mother, okay? Promise?" Ash smiled, nodding.

"Promise, Mom." She seemed satisfied with that answer, as she waved goodbye.

"I love you son, goodnight!" She beamed, and Ash gave her a thumbs up.

"I love you too Mom, bye." He hung up and without missing a beat, began dialing the number to Professor Oak's lab. he had his home number as well, but the man was hardly ever out of the lab doing something. He lived and breathed Pokemon. It rang for a little while, until finally the face of the aged man appeared on the screen.

"Hey Professor!" Ash greeted, and Oak matched Ash's smile with one of his own.

"Greetings, Ash! How've you been? How was your first day?" He asked, and Ash immediately began taking off his cap and pulling out the feather.

"It's been amazing! I ran into this Pokemon I'd never seen before, and it gave me this feather and whispered a really strange thing to me. Something about the world dying and a Child of Gold." He showed off the feather to a puzzled Professor, and his expression changed from one of confusion to one of utter shock.

" _Is that a r...no, no. It couldn't be...but that combined with the cryptic message you're describing..._ " Oak began mumbling to himself, leaving Ash to stare in blank confusion as he did so. " _I'll have to get back to Elm on those ruins, this sounds like it could be related to Zerra's wall..._ " He nodded, seeming to be satisfied to himself.

"Uh, Professor?" Ash questioned, and the man chuckled, seeming to just remember Ash was there.

"Oh! Yes! Excuse my little rambling there, that's splendid! Keep that feather especially safe, and if that Pokemon contacts you again, please let me know immediately, alright?" He asked, and Ash nodded, still seeming lost.

"Uh, sure, understood."

"Now I've got some business to take care of so I'll talk to you some other time. Have a good night Ash."

"You too Professor, bye."

With that, Ash sighed in relief. He was done with phone calls for tonight, now all he needed was some-

A loud grumbling noise filled the room.

-Food, that's what he'd been thinking.

* * *

"That was delicious!" Ash sighed contently, patting his belly as the group exited the Pokemon Center's Cafeteria. The food wasn't the best thing he'd ever tasted, that title went to his mom's cake, but for cafeteria food, it hadn't been bad at all.

"I've never understood how you two are capable of eating so much," Cheren commented, shaking his head, "Do you have bottomless pits for stomachs?" The aforementioned duo grinned at each other, before replying,

"Food is good!" Cheren face faulted.

"That didn't answer the question at all." He dead panned, and the pair just chuckled at his dry response. Misty watched the trio with a nostalgic expression in her eyes, her mind drifting back to her home. Back to Cerulean City, back to her stupid sisters, and back to her parents...

No, she'd gotten over that now, she didn't need to think about it anymore.

Pushing those thoughts out of her mind, she returned her focus to the conversation between the trio.

"Whatever." The black haired boy sighed, adjusting his glasses. "Let's just head to bed. You two have irritated me enough for one night." Yawning loudly at the mention of sleep, Bianca nodded in agreement.

"Yeah! I'm tired, and we did lots of stuff today! We got Pokemon, it was Ash's birthday, you two had a battle, we left Pallet Town, got attacked by Spearow, almost died, me and Ash almost died again, we reached a new city, got our Pokemon healed, got food, then after we started talking about what happened, I said we did lots of stuff today, that we got Poke-"

"We get it!" Cheren cut her off, "We don't need a recap of your recap!" Bianca stuck out her tongue at the glasses wearing boy, and Cheren just sighed again, pinching the bridge of his nose in irritation. "I'm tired. Let's just get to our rooms and go to bed." After leaving the cafeteria, the group split up, bidding their farewells, and heading to bed for the night, Ash and Cheren in one room and Bianca and Misty in the other.

* * *

The sudden sound of movement is what woke Ash from his slumber.

Slowly cracking his eyes open, Ash noticed it was still night time. In fact, it was pitch black in their room at the moment, so what exactly had woke him up?

"That you Ash?" Cheren's voice called out quietly, and that answered Ash's question. The moving around had been Cheren.

"Yeah," Ash yawned, still tired, "What are you doin' up?" The sound of something zipping shut again answered his question, but he let Cheren say it for himself.

"I'm leaving early." He stated simply, slugging the backpack over his shoulder. Ash sighed. That was Cheren, never wanting to stay with a group. He'd probably intended to leave without saying a word to anyone, but now, at least Ash could say goodbye. Climbing down from the top bunk of their bunk bed, Ash extended his hand.

"Well, I'm not gonna stop ya. If this is what you wanna do, then good luck, Cheren." Cheren smirked, shaking Ash's hand, before heading for the door.

"Thanks, and later." The sound of the door softly clicking shut let Ash know that the boy was gone, and smiling to himself, Ash climbed back into bed.

"Cheren's gonna have a huge head start now. That means we might not run into each other again for a while." Staring up at the ceiling, Ash closed his eyes, feeling sleep slowly take over again.

 _Next time we meet Cheren, I'm sure we'll both be a whole lot stronger!_ Those were Ash's final thought as his eyes closed for the final time that night.

* * *

"Huuuuuuuh!? He left without saying goodbye!?" Bianca cried in disbelief.

It was morning time now, and after Ash met up with the girls without Cheren, they'd naturally questioned his whereabouts. At the moment, Ash was deeply regretting letting Cheren leave before everyone else woke up.

"That jerk!" She shouted, before shaking her head. "No, he's not just a jerk, he's a SUPER jerk! A mega jerk! An ultimate stupid big meanie jerky jerk!" Ash and Misty sweat dropped at her rather confusing insults towards Cheren.

"Uh, right. Anyway, now that Cheren's got a head start, we've got to make it to Pewter City too, so let's get moving!" A loud growling noise followed that statement, and Misty face palmed.

"Real inspiring Ash, but I think you might've forgotten something." Misty snickered, and Ash turned red in embarrassment.

"Yeah yeah, real funny! _Any_ way, when I said let's get moving, I meant let's get moving to the Cafeteria! So HA!" He crossed his arms and turned away as he finished, and Misty's eyebrow twitched.

"Liar!" She huffed, mirroring Ash as she too crossed her arms and turned away. Bianca just looked back and forth between them, before tilting her head to the side.

"So, is Breakfast happening, or..." She trailed off, and both of the angry children turned towards her.

"YES!" They both shouted at the same time, before glaring at each other again. Bianca just giggled at the two's arguing. She thought it was kind of funny.

"You two act like brother and sister!" Both Ash and Misty scowled at her comparison.

"No way!" They repeated in harmony again, and in pure frustration, glared at each other again. Bianca couldn't help but find it all funny, how they were getting so worked up over something as small as Misty making a joke about Ash. With Ash and Misty ignoring each other and Bianca just finding it all hilarious, the rather dysfunctional trio made their way to the cafeteria.

* * *

"Alright, _now_ let's get going!" Ash repeated his statement from the morning. The group was standing outside the Pokemon Center, having bid farewell to Nurse Joy. Ash and Misty still glaring at each other whenever they could, and not surprisingly, Bianca still thought they were funny, although she was kind of tired of having to talk to them both separately instead of just having one big conversation. In only a matter of minutes, the group found themselves standing at the entrance of Viridian Forest.

"I bet you we can catch some awesome Bug Pokemon in here." Ash grinned like a toddler on christmas morning, "I'm gettin' hyped thinking about it!" Misty shivered violently. Oh no, no no no no...

"U-um, Bug Pokemon?" She stammered, backing away from the entrance.

"Well, if I wanna be a Pokemon Master, I gotta catch all the Pokemon I can!" He replied, "Besides, this is the quickest way to Pewter City!" Despite her common sense telling her everything would be fine, Misty couldn't stop shaking at the thought of Bug Type Pokemon. She didn't want to see a Bug, hear a Bug, she didn't even want them to exist!

"What? You _scared_?" Ash challenged, and Misty sent him the scariest glare she'd given him yet.

"No! I'm not scared!" Ignoring her better judgement, Misty stomped into the forest. She was not going to admit that she was afraid of bug Pokemon to Ash. Absolutely not. Shrugging, Bianca quickly followed, and Ash, who wasn't sure what he'd done to set the redhead off _that_ much.

* * *

It didn't take long for the trio to get into the thicker areas of the forest, the areas where if you were in there long enough the canopy of tress blocking out everything above would make you forget the sky. The ground was ripe with bushes, and the shorter trees had plenty of berries. All around them were strange looking plants, some of which were probably poisonous, but despite this, none of them were really admiring the scenery.

Well, Bianca was fascinated with the mushrooms because they were 'pretty', but that didn't really count.

As the group made their way through this maze of plant life, Misty was getting increasingly anxious. Sure, they hadn't _seen_ any Bug Pokemon yet, but she didn't have to see them. She could feel them, and their little creepy fuzzy legs and squirmy bodies and weird eyes...She just knew, any second now, some creepy bug was gonna come out and try to suck her blood or something.

She just _knew_ it.

But even though she knew that, her legs were still tired, so once more against her better judgement, she had to pick the lesser of the two evils.

"Ash." Misty groaned, "Can we take a break?" The spiky haired boy turned to her with a raised brow.

"Why? We've only been walking for an hour." He pointed out snidely. Being used to walking and running around a lot, an hour of walking didn't seem much for Ash. But for Misty, who lived much easier in Cerulean City for basically her whole life up until a few months ago, this wasn't something she was entirely used to yet.

"Yeah, but still, I could use a break. Besides," Her eyes narrowed, "I might not be so tired if I had a bike to ride!" She huffed, crossing her arms.

"Well nobody asked you to travel with us, did they?" Ash shot back, and the two glared at each other again electricity shooting between their eyes. Bianca watched them with a giggle.

"Brother and Sister~" She sang to herself, quiet enough so neither of them heard.

"Nobody asked you to break my bike either!"

"If you care about it so much then go buy another one!"

"I can't just buy another bike, that one was special!"

"Well boo hoo for you then!"

"Don't boo hoo me when it's YOUR fault!"

"Well if you're _so tired_ without your bike, then just stay behind!"

"Maybe I will!"

"Maybe you should!"

"Fine!"

"Fine!"

Suddenly Ash grabbed Bianca by the arm like a toddler, dragging her along with him as he marched ahead, leaving the redheaded girl with a head of steam all alone in the deep end of the forest.

The bug filled forest.

Oh no...maybe she shouldn't have agreed to them leaving...

No! Ash was just a big jerk anyway! She didn't need him, he was just a stupid boy. He was on her small list of terrible things, the other two of which being carrots, and worst of all, bugs.

"Wh-whatever, if I haven't run into one yet, I'm sure it'll be fi-" She was cut off by a sudden yellow blur zipping through the bushes in front of her. Eyes bulging in terror, Misty backed away, until she reached a tree. Even then, she back as much into said tree as she could.

"What was that!?" She started breathing heavily. She'd jinxed herself, hadn't she? She hadn't seen any bugs, and the moment she let her guard down, one appeared just like that! She was gonna die now, she was gonna get eaten by some forest bug and die, all because of that stupid Ash!

The yellow blur shot out of the bushed, and Misty's eyes widened in terror.

"Aaaaaaaaaaaah!"

* * *

Ash and Bianca, after leaving Misty behind, were having a relatively quiet walk through the remanding portion of the forest. Bianca just hummed along as they walked, occasionally stopping to smell flowers or poke mushrooms, but otherwise it was a run of the mill walk...

At least, until a Pokemon appeared.

"This flower smells like chocolate, Ash! Wanna smell it?" She asked, offering the flower to Ash, who raised a brow.

"There are flowers that smell like chocolate?" He questioned, before giving the flower a quick sniff. To his surprise, she was right. The flower _did_ smell an awful lot like chocolate. It kind of made him want some.

"You were right Bianca, the do smell like Cho-" Ash froze mid sentence once he noticed something...odd, on Bianca's head. "Uh, Bianca?" The blonde blinked innocently, not having a clue what he was looking at.

"There's a Pokemon on your head." He pointed at the accused Pokemon, and curiously, Bianca reached up, feeling the Pokemon, before giggling.

"It's kinda squishy!" She reached up with both hands this time, grabbing the Pokemon and pulling it down. The Pokemon blinked it's eyes at the blonde girl, and the two just stared innocently at each other. The pokemon was caterpillar like, with a green body and cream colored underbelly, big black eyes with golden rings around them, and a red 'Y' shaped antennae on it's head. Finally, Bianca was the first of the two to say anything.

"Hi!" Bianca grinned, "My name's Bianca! What's your name little guy?" Bianca fished out her Pokedex with her free hand, before pointing it at the caterpillar looking Pokemon.

 **"Caterpie, the Worm Pokémon. Caterpie uses the suction cups on its feet to climb trees and feed on its favorite leaves. To repel enemies, Caterpie releases an unpleasant odor from its red antenna. It molts several times while growing."**

"D'aaaw, this thing's adorable!" Bianca cooed, and immediately whipped out a Pokeball. "I want it!"

"Wait, don't you have to wea-" Ash was cut off by the sound of the Pokeball snapping shut, wiggling a few times before dinging to show it was caught. Ash's jaw dropped. he had to nearly die for a Pokemon, and she just caught it without so much as a _battle_!? Why was he so unlucky?

"Yay! I caught a Caterpie!" The blonde cheered, jumping around and cheering all over the place. "Bulbasaur needs to see it's new friend! Come on out, Bulbasaur!" She tossed the starter's Pokeball into the air, allowing the grass dinosaur to land lazily on her head as it always did. Bianca stumbled a bit under the sudden weight, but quickly fixed her balance. Looking up the still tired grass type, Bianca showew her new Pokemon's Pokeball excitedly.

"Look, Bulbasaur! I caught a new friend!" She beamed, but Bulbasaur just stared sleepily at it. It didn't feel like doing much right now, all it wanted to do was sleep...

"Saur," Bulbasaur lazily nodded, before closing it's eyes. Ash watched with a raised brow. Why was Bulbasaur always so tired? Didn't the Pokemon rest and recover in their Pokeballs? How could it be so tired when it was always sleeping?

"Uh, good job Bianca, nice catch." Ash congratulated, still weirded out about the whole situation. Bianca getting a Pokemon instantly, Bulbasaur's laziness...Everything about her was pretty weird.

But that's just how she was.

"Well, now I'm even more motivated to catch a Pokemon, so let's get moving!" Ash, now more determined than ever to catch something in this forest, promptly turned to keep walking, when he was stopped by a sudden noise, a noise you probably weren't supposed to hear in a forest.

"Aaaaaaaaaaaah!"

Ash and Bianca both turned to the source of the noise. It was coming from where they'd been earlier.

Where they'd left Misty.

That meant it was probably Misty screaming.

"That sounded like Misty!" Bianca said urgently, "We've gotta help!" Bianca started running back, but Ash wasn't so quick to make a decision. She stopped once he didn't follow. "Ash?"

Ash was frowning. He and her had just argued no more than fifteen minutes ago. He hadn't just forgiven her, he hadn't made up with her, in fact, he was still pretty mad that she wouldn't shut up about that stupid Bike. Honestly, a part of him felt like she deserved it.

But even still...

"I'm still mad, but if she really needs help I can't just ignore it! Let's go Bianca!" Ash said suddenly, running as fast as he could back to where they'd left Misty, Bianca following along. Once the two arrived on the scene, they found their prior guesses to be true. The scream had come from Misty alright.

Misty was lying on the ground, her ankle particularly looking nasty, a large bruise forming on the side of it. The girl herself had tears in her eyes, and was wincing in pain. The duo ran over to the girl, kneeling down to get a closer look at her.

"Misty, what happened?" Bianca asked worriedly, one of the few times she looked like she wasn't living on some far off planet and was actually being normal. Misty winced again, trying to sit up.

"I got-ah!" She stopped when she tried to move her ankle, and Ash frowned. She must've hurt it somehow. "I...got attacked, and a Pokemon took my bag!" Ash blinked, looking around and realizing her backpack was indeed missing. He hadn't even noticed until she brought it up.

"Well...did you see what Pokemon did it?" He questioned, and unfortunately for them, Misty shook her head.

"No, it was too fast! I just saw a yellow blur jump at me, and when I tried to run, my foot got caught on a tree root and I fell! The thing just took my bag and disappeared before i could even react!" She teared up even more as she continued. "All my Pokemon, my clothes, my food, everything was in there! I'm nothing without the stuff in that bag, and I let some random Pokemon steal it without even putting up a fight..." Bianca suddenly grabbed the girl in a hug, much to both Misty and Ash's surprise. "Bianca, what are you-" She was cut off by Bianca.

"You made a mistake, right? You let your Pokemon get hurt. I make lots of mistakes too, so I know how you feel." She said softly, before squeezing the girl tighter, "But don't feel sad, okay? Me and Ash'll get your bag back in no time! Right Ash?" She turned to the still surprised raven haired boy, who blinked a few times at suddenly being brought into the conversation, before nodding.

"Right! We'll do everything we can!" He agreed. Misty wiped away her tears, nodding her head as Bianca let her go. She still wasn't on the best of terms with Ash right now, but they were the only people she had right now.

"Thank you." She said softly, and Bianca gave her a thumbs up.

"No problem, just leave it to us!" She assured cheerfully. The redhead smiled slightly, before grimacing in pain again.

"Ugh, I still can't move my ankle," She groaned, and Bianca looked to Ash.

"Well, if she can't move, then you'll have to carry her back to Viridian City!" Ash nearly choked on the air he was breathing in.

"WHAT!?" He exclaimed, and Bianca got a surprisingly stern look on her face.

"Like it or not, we gotta get her to Nurse Joy so she can check on Misty's ankle! And since you're stronger than me, you'll have to carry Misty!" She explained, and Ash's head drooped. He knew she was right, but he really didn't want to have to carry Misty. The latter of which had a face red with embarrassment, and was frowning.

"No way! I don't want him to carry me anywhere!" She huffed, and Ash frowned.

"Well I didn't want to carry you in the first place!" He shot back, and the two glared at each other again. Bianca stomped between the two of them, before putting her arms up.

"STOP!" She shouted, and both kids looked to her in surprise. She had never stopped their arguing before, so it was surprising she'd do it now. "Misty needs help, so if you wanna argue, do it later!" Both of them stared at her angry face for a moment, before looking down in guilt. She was right, now wasn't the time for them to argue like kids. Misty needed help right now, and that was more important than their fighting.

With a heavy sigh, Ash walked over to Misty lifting her up bridal style, but with the meanest frown he'd produced all day. He really didn't want to do this. Misty gasped at suddenly being lifted up, but that quickly changed to surprise at how Ash had even lifted her in the first place.

"Let's just get this over with." He grumbled, and Bianca clapped in satisfaction, suddenly returning to her normal bubbly self. Misty meanwhile, was already complaining.

"Ash, you're holding me too loose! I feel like I'm gonna fall." She complained, and Ash rolled his eyes.

"Maybe if you weren't so heavy, i could hold on to you tighter." He muttered, and Misty's eyes seemed to light on fire at that. You never insult a woman's weight.

"Heavy? _Maybe_ you're just weak!" She huffed, crossing her arms and turning her head away from him.

"If I'm so weak, _maybe I_ should just drop you back on the ground!"

"I swear to Arceus Ash, if you drop me I will hurt more than your ankle!"

Bianca giggled at the duo again. "Just like brother and sister~" She sang, and both kids glared at her at the same time.

"STOP SAYING THAT!" Both of them shouted at the blonde, embarrassment written all over both their faces.

* * *

"Luckily for you, this is only a grade one sprain, meaning that while you shouldn't be doing gymnastics any time soon, you'll be fine to travel again in a week or two." Nurse Joy informed, and Misty couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief at that news. She hadn't known what she would be told, but at least it wouldn't take months to get back to traveling like she feared it would. A week or two wouldn't be short by any means, but it was better than three or six months of lying in a bed when she could be training her Pokemon...

...Which had been stolen.

"A week!? I can't go a week without hitting Pewter City! Cheren's gonna have five badges before I get one!" Ash cried, before sulking. "This is the worst." He mumbled, and Bianca giggled at his reaction.

"If we're gonna be here all week, I can explore the city!" She said cheerily.

"Um, guys, what are we gonna do about my bag?" Misty questioned, and both Ash and Bianca shrugged.

"I was just gonna look around for yellow Pokemon and try to figure out what Pokemon took your stuff." Ash admitted sheepishly, and Nurse Joy's eyes suddenly widened.

"Did you say a yellow Pokemon took your bag?" She asked, and Misty nodded.

"Yeah, it attacked me out of nowhere and ran away with all my stuff." She huffed, and Nurse Joy frowned in what seemed to be concern rather than anger.

"That's another one, then..." The pink haired woman trailed off sadly, drawing the group's attention.

"Another what?" Ash prodded, and Nurse Joy sighed, before sitting down with the rest of them.

"About a month ago, a Trainer named Damian passed by here along with his group of friends. They were a very rude bunch, and very loud too. Damian wouldn't stop complaining about how weak and useless his Pikachu was, just because it was too young to know any Electric Attacks and lost a lot of battles as a result." She began, and everyone in the group frowned in disgust.

"That's terrible!" Misty said with a frown.

"Yeah, that guy sounds like a big jerk!" Bianca added.

"How could anyone treat a Pokemon like that?" Ash asked in disbelief. He had never imagined anyone who called themselves a trainer could treat their own Pokemon that way.

"Anyway," Nurse Joy continued, "He wouldn't stop complaining about his weak Pikachu. And once I'd finally healed up all his Pokemon, Pikachu included, Damian took Pikachu and they left. I didn't think much of it, until Damian and his friends came back laughing their heads off. I overheard them talking about how they taught that Pikachu a lesson for being weak, and how Damian had finally gotten rid of the dead weight on his team. I ran out to try and help Pikachu, but when I found it, despite being bruised up from Damian and those kids, it refused to let me help."

Ash was trembling in anger. Calling a Pokemon weak was bad enough, but then releasing it, and even beating it up when it wasn't even fully grown? That was unacceptable!

"That guy...if I ever meet him, he's gonna get it!" He said through gritted teeth, before frowning again, but in confusion rather than anger. "But what does that have to with Misty's bag?" Misty face palmed. She couldn't believe he hadn't figured it out.

"Pikachu's the thief, Ash. It took my bag." She revealed, rolling her eyes, "Jeez. Was that hard to figure out?" Before Ash and Misty could get into an argument again, Nurse Joy continued.

"Pikachu was and is still a young Pokemon that was never raised in the wild, so it didn't know how to survive out there. But because of Damian, it wouldn't trust humans, so I couldn't do anything but watch it from afar...that is, until it started attacking wandering trainers." All three stiffened up at that last line. So this is where she revealed why it did what it did to Misty.

"Pikachu, since it had no idea how to find berries or anything else due to not being naturally wild, did the only thing it learned how to do from Damian; fight. It picked fights with other Pokemon in the forest, and it especially picked fights with Trainers due to it's bad past. In order to eat, it bullied other Pokemon out of their food. And for trainers, it stole anything it could take from them, like bags, for example." She stopped for a moment to let that all sink in. Ash was the first to say anything.

"So Pikachu turned into a bully because it didn't know how to live on it's own..." Ash muttered, before suddenly rising to his feet. "I'm gonna do it!" He decided suddenly, startling everyone.

"Do what?" Nurse Joy asked, and Ash grinned, giving her a thumbs up.

"I'm gonna show Pikachu that all humans aren't bad guys, so it can stop stealing from everyone!" Nurse Joy stared at Ash in surprise for a few seconds, as if taking time to process what she'd just heard, before smiling. She wasn't sure why, but she just had a gut feeling that this boy might be the one to get through to Pikachu where she couldn't.

"Good luck, I'll be rooting for you," She said finally, and Ash nodded, turning to Bianca.

"You ready Bianca?" He asked, and Bianca immediately jumped to her feet.

"Yeah! Let's go help that Pikachu!" She then remembered Misty, sheepishly adding, "And get Misty's bag back!" before the duo marched out of the Pokemon Center.

"You sure have some energetic friends," Joy giggled, and Misty just shook her head, sighing.

"You don't know the half of it."

* * *

"So how are we supposed to find Pikachu?" Bianca asked. The duo stood once more in Viridian Forest, though this time their feelings of excitement for adventure were replaced by anticipation of the enemy. They had to stop Pikachu from stealing any more things from Trainers and other Pokemon, and get back Misty's bag.

"Well, if it likes stealing from Trainers, all we gotta do is just walk around like normal and we'll lure it out." Ash explained, adjusting his cap, "So let's get walking!" With that the duo headed off through the forest, not noticing a yellow blur shoot by right behind them.

Those humans were trying to find it, Pikachu noted as it ran. Well, if that's what they wanted, then that's what they'd get.

* * *

It had been roughly ten minutes since Ash and Bianca re-entered Viridian Forest in search of Pikachu, and in that time, not much had actually happened. Despite trying to act as natural as possible, it seemed like Pikachu wasn't taking the bait. They hadn't seen, or even heard it all.

"Maybe it's sleeping," Bianca suggested to a visibly irritated Ash, who just shook his head.

"It's probably just hiding and waiting for us to let our guard down...Well, i'm not gonna do it!" Ash declared, raising his voice to make sure Pikachu heard him, "You're not sneak attacking me!" There was a moment of silence as Ash and Bianca watched and waited for any signs of Pikachu. It looked like the electric mouse wasn't even there, but Ash just had a gut feeling that it was, even if he couldn't see or hear it...

And then he saw it.

For a split second, Ash saw the leaves rustle.

And a split second was all he needed.

"I saw it!" Ash exclaimed.

"Gaaaaaaaah!" Bianca screamed, and Ash turned around to see Bianca, flat on her back and Pikachu, scurrying off with the bag. Ash grimaced. How had it gotten behind him so fast? That was insane speed! Quickly helping Bianca to her feet, the duo gave chase, though they weren't nearly as fast as Pikachu was. Pikachu sharply turned corners and leapt over tree roots with precision that could only be born from experience, while Ash and Bianca stumbled, barely able to keep up with it.

Pikachu smirked as it watched the humans trip and fall at every turn. They weren't any different from those other humans who tried to chase it. It knew the forest like the back of it's paw, there was no way they would ever catch-

"Chaaa!" Pikachu crashed into a tree, too busy gloating in it's mind to look where it was going.

Ash and Bianca quickly caught up while Pikachu was recovering. "There's nowhere to run, Pikachu! We've got you now!" Ash declared triumphantly, a proud smirk on his face, until he got a good look at Pikachu.

It was thin, thinner than a Pikachu was supposed to be. It's fur was rough looking and frizzy, patches of dirt all over it, and it's eyes were scared, yet defensive and full of anger. Ash could feel his anger swelling up. This was all Damian's fault. All of Pikachu's problems were his fault...

Pikachu scrambled to it's feet and got into a battling position, gnawing it's teeth at the duo. It let itself be hurt last time, but these humans weren't going to do a thing to it. Not if it had anything to do with it. "Pi, Pika!" Pikachu growled, and Bianca turned fearfully to Ash.

"Looks like we're gonna have to battle it...Ash?" Bianca raised a brow as Ash slid off his backpack, unzipping it. Pikachu too was curious. What was the human doing?"

"I can't battle a Pokemon when it's not at a hundred percent, and besides, I said I wanted to show Pikachu that all humans aren't bad, so..." Ash dug into his backpack, pulling out a sandwich. Unwrapping it, he offered it to the stunned electric type with a warm smile on his face. "Here ya go. Eat up, Pikachu." Pikachu stared at the human in front of it, shock, no pun intended, written all over it's face.

Pikachu had expected Ash to battle it, to scold it and give it the run of the mill speech about how wrong stealing was, but he wasn't. He was helping it, offering it food, and smiling. Pikachu thought all humans were bad, but maybe...Pikachu shook it's head, stopping that thought. No! Humans were just jerks! Stupid, lying, mean jerks! This human wasn't any different! It was all just some big trick!

...Right?

"Chu!" Pikachu refused, turning away. It was young, sure, but it wasn't stupid. It knew exactly what the human was planning, it wouldn't fall for that trick. Never again.

"Pikachu..." Ash sighed. He knew it wouldn't be easy to convince it, especially after all that Damian had done to it. But he was determined to show Pikachu the good that existed in humans. He wouldn't give up. "Look, I know some humans have treated you bad in the past. I get it. You don't wanna get hurt again by humans, so trusting me ain't easy. I understand, but hear me out, okay?" Pikachu looked back at Ash. If he understood, then why? Why was he here, trying to tell it otherwise?

"There are lots of people in the world. Some people, like your Trainer, are bad people. They hurt other people and Pokemon, and don't even care. But there's also good people out there too, people who just wanna be friends and have fun. People who are there for you, people that care. And maybe...maybe you haven't met any of those good people yet, and I'm sorry you haven't, but please," Ash offered the sandwich again, "Believe in a human, just one more time. Trust me, and I swear I won't hurt you."

Pikachu looked at Ash again, right in the eyes. His words seemed almost too good to be true, and had it not seen the human's eyes, it wouldn't have taken any of it to heart. But his eyes were so warm, so true, so pure...Pikachu slowly approached Ash, and cautiously took a bite out of the sandwich. "Chaa!" Pikachu squealed happily. The sandwich was really good!

Bianca watched the duo with a smile on her face. She'd been a bit worried that Pikachu would attack him, but it looked like everything had worked out okay. Ash had always had that affect on others. Getting them to believe in him, to trust in him. He'd done it with her dad, and now again with Pikachu. She really admired that about him.

"So, Pikachu," Ash began as Pikachu finished, "You've stolen a lot of stuff, right?" Pikachu sheepishly scratched the back of it's head, kind of like Ash did. The two already acted alike. "Can you show us where that stolen stuff is? Our friend's stuff was stolen too, and she could really use her stuff back." Pikachu nodded, and Ash stood up. "Great! Then let's get mo-"

Ash was cut off by the sudden cold feeling of steel pressing against his neck.

"Are you a Pokemon Trainer from Pallet Town?"

* * *

 **And that's the cliffhanger you guys were left with last time!**

 **I know a few things in this Chapter may upset some of you, maybe that it looks like I'm just stalling to get to Pewter City, maybe that Bianca got Caterpie, maybe that Pikachu has a far different history and Damian is seemingly going to play a similar but different role? Whatever may have tickled you the wrong way, rest assured readers, I am a man with a plan!**

 **Anyways, I'm off to work on the first real new chapter of this story, Chapter 5! So, 'till next time,**

 **Peace!**

* * *

 ** _*Chapter 5 Preview*_**

 _"Look, I don't have time for this! I need to find my friend's stuff!" Ash exclaimed in frustration. The boy crossed his arms, eyes narrowing at Ash._

 _"Only a Novice makes such excuses!" He shouted back, and Ash growled._

 _"I AM NOT A NOVICE!"_

* * *

 _ **Chapter 5: "Challenge Of The Samurai!"**_


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